Lollygagger's Big Buy

She did it. She made her first purchase with her own money, and the purchase was big.

My Lollygagger is a saver. She saves every penny she gets. What she really likes to save are quarters and dollar coins. She has five piggy banks: One for Dollar coins, One for Quarters, One for Penny's, and One for Nickels and Dimes. These are for college. The fifth one is for general spending and is filled with anything she has, but mostly Quarters and Dollar coins. This, of course, is filled first. The Lollygagger has been attending pre-school. The pre-schoolers share a playground with Kindergarten, and First grade students. Some of these youngsters have the ability to operate a two-wheel contraption the Lollygagger calls a "Ricecycle."

After a close examination of her three-wheeled Ricecycle, she decided she was behind the times and desperately needed what the other kids had. This is a rather large purchase. The type of purchase you might consider for Christmas, or a Birthday. We explained that such a purchase would cost a lot of money; money we were not prepared to part with.

Oh, how lucky. She had a solution. She would pay for it herself with her own money.

During the week we took to think about it, she insisted on looking at Ricecycles in every store we entered. She shopped and priced her favorite picks at each store and ultimately decided on the one she would buy if permitted.

It wasn't the least expensive, but it was the best Ricecycle for the money. It came with a horn, streamers on the handle bars, a zip-up bag on the front with a water bottle, training wheels, and it was purple with a Princess on it. Jackpot!

She didn't pester or whine, which I think was the driving force in our decision to allow her to spend our hard earned money she managed to save, on her chosen Ricecycle. We gave her the good news. We would go to Target the following day, piggy bank in hand, and buy the purple-princess Ricecycle.

She didn't sleep the entire night. No laughing or talking in her sleep, no dreaming of jumping in the giant bouncer, no rolling out of bed in the middle of the night. She was too excited.

The next day after school, we went to get the Ricecycle. Daddy lifted it off the rack and presented the Lollygagger with her bike. I mean, Ricecycle. It was a moment to behold. She climbed on and began to slowly ride it through the isles of the store, dodging customers and employees alike.

She managed to reach the front of the store and peeled off one of two price stickers and handed it to the cashier. Rather than dump the contents of the piggy bank out, I paid for it. The Lollygagger was told we would count out her quarter at home and she can pay me back then. The quarters would have to wait.

When she arrived home she rode her new Ricecycle for two hours straight. She was unwillingly pulled off the bike, I mean Ricecycle, due to nightfall, and cryed for the next five minutes. She spotted the piggy bank and remembered she needed to pay up. She turned over the cash and was happy to do it. She was so proud that she used her own money for her special purchase she forgot she was in the middle of a tantrum. I love it when that happens.

Here's a last picture of her on her new bike - Ricecycle. Don't worry, she does wear a helmet, just not in these pictures.