On Friday, my daughter got to pick three items out of her teacher's treasure chest.
"Look what I got!" she said proudly the minute she got into the car. She held out two fruit-flavored Jolly Ranchers (hard candy) for my inspection.
"Excellent choices," I replied. "But I thought you got to pick three things," I continued, slightly confused. My math skills are not so good, but I can still count up to ten. On occasion.
My daughter told me that she gave her third Jolly Rancher to the girl standing next to her in the parent pick-up line.
"That was very nice of you," I said proudly. I commended my daughter for doing something that I probably wouldn't do myself. When it comes to candy, I have a sharing problem.
"Look what she gave me in return!" my daughter replied, opening up her backpack. Inside was the contents of an entire pet store.
It was hard to keep the car on the road.
"You made a very good trade, but you are going to have to give all of those animals back to your new friend," I told her.
Everyone the car had a hard time understanding why I would demand such a senseless thing.
"I don't know what to tell you other than that I am a mean mom," I told the angry mob.
"You owe me a piece of candy then," my daughter said as she handed over the booty.
I nodded my head. That request seemed rational.
"Actually you owe me fifteen Little Pet shop animals," she said, changing her mind.
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Wow! Your daughter has some serious negotiating skills. How she ever got the other girl to give up 10 items for one little jolly rancher, that's amazing! Maybe she'll make a good business woman some day :)
hee hee. My first grade nephew came home with $25 one day, saying he sold his slinky. My sister was so at odds because she didn't want to penalize him for being entrepreneurial/a good negotiator but at the same time, it wasn't quite a fair trade. She called the parents to give back the $25 but they never returned her call. To this day, his negotiating skills are legendary.
Her demands are reasonable :)
My kids were recently on the other end of something similar to the above slinky incident, but we weren't lucky enough to get their money back. Kids have no idea what things are worth.
On another note- WTH is up with all the candy? Since my kids don't act up at school, they are on a constant sugar high from the rewards. What happened to just expecting good behavior.
I bet that little girl's mother will thank you for encouraging your child to return the beloved "pets". *Those kitties and puppies are way too expensive!!!:)
Um... can I just say that I'd trade all those ugly things for one jolly rancher too? Especially if it were Blue Raspberry or Lemon! :)
Man, she drives a hard bargain. It's a pity she lives in a country where for the most part prices are fixed--what you see is what you pay. She needs to move somewhere she can use her skills--and I need to follow her there and become very good friends.
All that for a jolly rancher? The other girl must have REALLY wanted a piece of candy!!
haha...I can see a corporate attorney blooming! The other little girl must really have a thing for Jolly Ranchers. I suppose that's the first step in law school: find your opponent's weakness.
see, if it were my kid who traded the animals for the jolly rancher I would tell her to deal with it, she made a bad choice and that's the consequence. I wouldn't buy new pets and I wouldn't let the trade be reversed. Sometimes these hard lessons are the best. After all, the toys were hers, regardless of who bought them, the toys were hers and once you give a gift it is no longer yours to worry about. This is a suck-it-up buttercup moment.
Holy Cow! I could use some good trading skills like that. . .
OMGosh--I have the same trouble with my middle child and the kids on the bus (all his age). His "best" trade was a Happy Meal electronic game for a GAMEBOY with 3 games. No joke! I hardly know the family and tried to get the boys to trade back but to no avail.
Sounds like my 5 year old daughter! she knows what she wants and knows how to get it. I just chalk that up to great parenting. :)So koodos to you hehe.
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