Picture the scene: a beautiful, warm (almost spring) day. Six neighborhood children playing in the cul-de-sac, enjoying the sunshine. A sound breaks through their noisy play...the unmistakable sound of the ice cream truck. Four children dash into their houses to beg for ice cream money. Two look up at me (being the only parent that actually stays outside with her children) and wait for my inevitable response: Sorry guys, Mommy doesn't have any cash. I should have that printed on a T shirt. In these days of direct deposit and debit cards, the feeling of cold, hard cash in my hand is rare. And the ice cream truck doesn't take debit...yet. Normally, I don't feel much guilt about saying "not today" but today actually felt like an ice cream truck kind of day...and every other kid was getting some :(


As the truck approached, I made a mad dash into my bedroom and emptied David's change glass onto the bed. I was scrambling and Luke ran behind me screaming frantically as if his life depended on it, "Hurry, Mom, hurry! We're gonna miss it, we're gonna miss it!" The tinkling music in the background might as well have been the Final Jeopardy theme, counting down. I thought my kids would have to share (and like it!) but I was able to come up with 2.65 in silver money. Each child was able to pick his/her own $1 selection: an ice cream sandwich for Lily, a fruit popsicle for Luke. Crisis averted. David doesn't need that change for the soda machine anyway.