(by a five-year-old)
The five-year-old girl jabbered as we walked into the quilt shop. She looked at all the fabric, touching some of the bright cloth designs as we went down the rows. In her hand was her little pink “bag” with her treasures inside. When we had lunch earlier, she took everything out to show me what she had inside. One of the contents was some money and she was itching to spend it.
She looked around and said, “Where is the kids’ fabric?” I directed her to a little room that contained a selection of children and juvenile prints. She seemed a bit perturbed, “I don’t see any. Those are all big pieces.” Then I understood that she was looking for small pieces of fabric. “Oh, I see. I’ll show you the packets of cut pieces.” We both picked up various packages of colorful fabric already cut into squares.
Her sweet little face looked sad. “I don’t have enough dollars and cents.” I replied, “Well, maybe somebody would let you have a bit more. Open your purse and let me see how much you have.” She had a two-dollar bill, a one-dollar bill, a penny, nickel, dime and quarter. I looked in my bag and pulled out two five-dollar bills and slid it into hers. “Now you have enough to buy your fabric.” That satisfied her.
We continued to look and she picked up a package of squares, “This is the one I want. It has rainbow colors.” When I asked what she was going to make, she said, “I’m going to make a quilt for my friend in Brazil.”
I went to the checkout counter to pay for my fabric and told the little girl who stood beside me, “You can pay for yours now.” The lady behind the counter smiled and said, “Oh, I thought your grandmother would pay for your fabric.” I said, “I did. I gave her ten dollars to pay for her fabric!” She had already rung it up so I told the little one, “You can pay for the ice cream in a bit.”
The little girl handed me her purchase to put in the back of the car with mine. She said, “I need my bag out of there.” Then she paused and I could see the wheels turning behind that cute face. “No, you can put it back there, too.” So, I did.
About halfway to the ice cream shop, she said, “I can’t buy the ice cream because I can’t get my bag.” Hmmm.. So, that’s the way it was going to be. So, guess who paid for the ice cream. You guessed it – me. Another ten dollars.
As we were leaving the ice cream store, the little girl’s mom said to her daughter, “Thanks for the ice cream.” I looked at her and said, “What? She didn’t buy the ice cream. I did. She duped me out of thirty bucks.”
And it was thirty dollars well spent! Fabric for a little girl to make a quilt that she gave to her aunt (instead of her friend in Brazil), ice cream, ten dollars for her to spend at another time, and time spent with my daughter and two granddaughters – PRICELESS!
