Photo A Day, Day 19: Money

My family’s usual morning routine is that my daughter wakes up first, turns on both the closet light and the room light (and often the CD player as well) in the bedroom she shares with her brother, and then either climbs into his bunk shouting, “Wake up, Ryan! Wake up!” or bangs on the door shouting, “Mama! I hungry!” Either way, the next step is usually that either I or my husband gets up and goes to get her dressed (and her brother, if she was successful in waking him up), then she runs into our bedroom to greet whichever parent won the coin toss to stay in bed for a few more minutes.

And speaking of coins, her next step is usually to pilfer something from the pile of change that my husband empties from his pocket every night before going to bed. 

She doesn’t really understand what money is yet, or what it’s used for. She just knows that she likes how it looks, and how it feels, and how it sounds (and how it tastes, but we really discourage that). She knows that this kind of money is called a “coin,” and that the different colors and shapes have different names, like “penny” and “nickel” and “quarter.” She likes that sometimes pennies are dull and brown and sometimes they’re shiny and sparkly. She’s fascinated by the pictures on the flat sides and the ridges on the edges of some. She especially likes the way Mummy chases after her when she steals a piece or two.

I’m glad that at the moment she just likes it because it’s pretty. But I know it’s only a matter of time (and a very short time, at that) before she realizes the power of money.