Independence Day

A1: "Mom, can we go to Deep Cove?" I was working at my client's office about 1/2 an hour away from home. It was 3:15pm and Austin had just returned from picking up Aaron from preschool about 5 blocks away.

M: "Well, that's pretty far from home, but it's a nice day and I had been thinking the same thing before you called."

A1: "Can we have some money for ice cream?"

M: "That's what your allowance is for."

A1: "What about Aaron? He doesn't get allowance."

M: "Well then, you and Aidan will have to agree to buy Aaron an ice cream by splitting the cost, or else none of you should get any."

I left A1 with instructions to let Dad know where they were going and not to call me to complain if Dad says, "No." Skye was working downstairs.

Around 3:45, I received a text message from Skye asking if it was ok with me for the boys to go to Deep Cove. I responded, "Sure. I'll pick them up on my way home."

I reached Panorama Park at 5:15 and found the boys on the path near the beach. They were all happy and Austin was drinking water from a Tupperware container he had obviously filled at home. I was impressed that he had thought to pack water for the trip.

Austin excitedly told me that he had bought himself two slices of Deep Cove Pizza and he had $0.02 left over. Aidan had bought himself some ice cream and he had $1.51 left over.

M: "Did Aaron get some ice cream too?"

A1 & A2: "Yeah!"

A2: "We bought Aaron a small dish of vanilla ice cream."

M: "You shared the cost?"

A2: "Yes, Austin paid half and I paid half."

A1 and A2 explained that they had decided before they left the house, how much money they were willing to spend. So, they brought only that much ($10 and $5, respectively) down with them and left the rest in their wallets. Now comes the reason for the packed water bottles...

A1: "I wasn't going to be spending any of my money on water, so I filled up water bottles to take with us." Good thinking!

I asked how everything went and if they all enjoyed going down to Deep Cove (about 10 blocks from home) on their own. I received a very balanced answer.

A1: "Aaron got a little upset when I accidentally hit his chin with the scooter, and Aidan tread on the heel of his boot. We weren't really paying good enough attention at the start, but we got better at it. We made sure that Aaron was always farthest away from cars when we were walking on the sidewalk, even if Aaron got mad at us for that."

I was really proud of all the boys, and I told them so. This was a big step and they handled the responsibility beautifully.