Last week, Ben won $5.00 from our neighbor in a game of checkers. While I don’t encourage gambling (from a statistical, not philosophical point of view), I do want to stress the value of money early with our kids, so we took that money to the store tonight so Ben could buy a toy with his money. He initially picked out a red race car. After some prodding, he decided it was the one he wanted over all the other toys.

With all the pride a 3 year old can muster, he handed the check-out lady the item and his five dollar bill. She rang him up, handed him his receipt and his change. He was especially tickled with getting the receipt. I guess because I usually take the receipt and put it in my wallet. This time, he was getting something back and he needed to keep it.

I’m not sure any life lessons of the value of the dollar were passed on tonight, but it was neat to see him as a participant in the lifecycle of commerce.

The spoils: