Savannah the Sweetheart

In April, Savannah was excited to learn that her school was going to sell T-shirts for Field Day. We disappointed her, however, by explaining that we couldn't afford to buy one for her. Near the end of the month, Savannah announced that she had counted the money in her piggy bank and found she had enough to buy her own T-shirt ($12.00). When she told Katie that she was planning on buying a shirt with the money, Katie reminded her that she had previously said she was going to spend that money on a present for her sister Leila on her fifth birthday. Katie told Savannah that it was her money and, therefore, her decision to make.

Savannah agonized over the decision. But in the end, as she later explained to me, she wanted to buy a present for Leila just a "teensy tiny bit more" than she wanted to buy a Field Day T-shirt for herself.

The day of Leila's birthday, I took Savannah to Toys R Us so she could buy her sister a present. As soon as we walked in the doors, she shouted, "Oh!" and darted off to a display of toys. By the time I made it to that display, she had scampered over to another. She zigged and zagged around the store in search of the perfect present. When she finally stopped, I told her I had an idea for Leila that she might want to consider. I told her what it was, and she responded, "Dad, I'm the one buying her present! You're just the driver!" Then she grabbed the front of my shirt, twisted her fistful of fabric into a knot, and yanked me to another location. Pulling me around by my shirt, she continued her quest. She eventually settled on two items: a jumbo-sized Jake and the Neverland Pirates coloring pad and some sort of Doc McStuffins toy.

As we waited in line to pay, Savannah started worrying. "Do I have enough money, dad?" she asked. I told her that the sales tax might push the purchase over $12. She asked, "Can you pay for that part if it does?" I assured her that I could. The cashier was very kind to Savannah and patiently counted out the mountain of coins she dumped on the counter. The total came to $11.89, a fact that greatly pleased Savannah.

Savannah and I went home and together wrapped the presents. Savannah decided that, since she had 11 cents left over, that she would include the cold hard cash with the gift instead of returning it to her piggy bank.

She was so excited for Leila to open her presents. Katie and I worried that Leila would not react to the gift in the way Savannah hoped, so we explained that Leila probably would not understand the significance of Savannah's sacrifice and the tough choice she had to make. I worried when Leila tore open the wrapping paper, shrugged, and moved on to the next wrapped present that Savannah would be hurt, but she took it all in stride.

In the days since, Leila has spent a lot of time with the coloring pad. She has really enjoyed it. To our surprise, the Doc McStuffins toy has languished in obscurity.

As for me, I genuinely enjoyed the shopping experience with Savannah -- even though I was *only* the "driver." It was delightful to see her enthusiasm and excitement as she painstakingly picked out the perfect gift for her little sister and paid for it all by herself.

Savannah is such a good big sister. Such a sweetheart!

In which Leila offers to pay for our daddy-daughter date

A few days ago, I picked up Leila from preschool and had 45 minutes before I needed to pick Savannah up from her school. Thinking it would not be worth it to drive back home, only to hop back in the car and get Savannah, I came up with an idea to fill the time. I asked Leila if she wanted to go on a daddy-daughter date with me. She squealed with delight and said, "Yes!!" I then called Katie to tell her of our plans. During our conversation, she cautioned me about spending too much money on the date and told me to keep it cheap.

I relayed this message to Leila as we were trying to settle on a destination. Leila immediately said, "Dad, you can borrow money from me for our date. We can just drive home and get my piggy bank and then go on our date. I explained that time would not allow us the extra trip home and politely declined her offer to pay. In response, she said, "But dad, I have a lot of money. I mean, TONS of money."

I said, "Oh yeah? How much you got?"

She said, "I have two dollar bills!"

I agreed that that was a large sum of money, but told her I could afford to pay for our frozen yogurt at Yogurtland.

She said, "Dad, you need to earn more money." Then, after a pause, she offered me a means of supplementing my income. She said, "I got an idea, you could tickle my back and I will give you some pennies. Then you will have more money."


Pennies, huh? You mean you're not willing to pay me the big bucks to tickle your back?