Ripped Paper

In our everyday lives....if a piece of paper rips, we have several options.  If it is small...we can ignore it.  We can tape it or use some fastener.  If it is really big, we may just toss the paper in the trash and start over.

Apparently, the last option is what Sassy chose to do....with about $70!!!!

Last night I went into the bathroom, and saw a wad of cash in the trashcan.  WTF?  I started pulling it out, and there were several 1's in multiple pieces, a few 10's with a rip in the middle, and various other bills in miscellaneous conditions.

OK, so we know that we, as in the adults, didn't do it.  That only leaves two options.  We looked at their piggy banks, and saw the stopper to Sassy's piggybank sitting on top of the bank.....good chance that we found our suspect.

This was 10pm, so obviously we couldn't do anything about it at the time.  But this really bothered me.  Why on EARTH did she do that??  Doesn't she understand that money just doesn't appear, and you have to take care of it?  Uh......maybe she doesn't.....

Oh poopsicles.  She DOESN'T understand about money.  Typically, she never needs money.  We pay for things out, and while she has received money as gifts, all she does is put it in her bank.  She doesn't want anything....not because she is so spoiled....but because she is the kind of kid that is very happy wandering around the yard picking up leaves and rocks, or coloring, or some other low key, low expense activity.

So this morning we talked to her.  We told her she wasn't in trouble,but she needed to tell us the truth.

Turns out she wanted money to buy snack at lunch.  She had some trouble getting the money out, and some of it ripped....so she threw it away.  Additionally, since she was having problems getting the money out, she figured she would just get rid of some of it, to make more room.  (The kids actually have a sizable piggybank.  Since they were born, the grandparents tend to "feed the piggy" when they would visit.  Plus all birthday money, and misc. change has gone in there).

Ahhh....the thought process of a 9 year old.

We talked to her about the importance of taking care of your money, and while we were proud of her for 1) telling the truth, and 2) using her own money instead of asking for money....there were some BETTER choices she could make.

We also talked about what to do if a friend wants to "borrow" money for snack.  She is so sweet...she would happily buy everyone snack if she had enough money.  And we talked about "what if you want an ice cream, and it costs $1, but you only have $0.50."  Talk about the teachable moment.

We have been pussy-footing around about allowance...but I think the official time has come.  It is obvious that we haven't properly explained money to the kids.  So the time is here.

Saturday I will take Sassy to the bank and exchange all her change for paper money.  And we will decide how much she will keep "liquid" and how much will go into the new bank account she will get very soon (the school has a program with our local bank, so I want to go through that).   I will also see what we can do about her ripped money.  We have all the pieces....I am hoping the bank can help us.