The day of Evie's birthday, Daniel found some money around the house. He kept asking me how rich he was and what he could spend his money on. "Not much, kiddo," I responded. After we got in the car to head out for the party, Daniel again asked what he could buy at the store with his
new money that was now
three silver coins and
two were big ones! "You could probably buy a banana." And that it what he did. I helped him pick a solo banana and he proudly carried it through the store. If there had been other shoppers at our tiny local store, he probably would have shown them his money and the banana. At the check out lane, he insisted on paying for his own banana all by himself, but whispered to me that I could tell him which coins to give the cashier. The cashier thought Daniel was adorable, which of course he is, and rang up his banana which came to $.23. "Hand her one big coin," I whispered. He handed her a quarter with a flourish and was so pleased to receive two cents change, his banana in his very own bag, and his very own receipt! You should have seen him strut out of the store with his bag and receipt!
When he got in the car, he said, "I don't even want this banana! Here, Lula!" He kept his two pennies in his pocket up until he got into the pool. Mark insisted that Daniel not take the pennies into the pool and that he would keep them safe in the locker while they were swimming. You better believe that Daniel remembered his two pennies and demanded them back as soon as they were dried and dressed after swimming!
About two weeks ago, I got a few bags of random Christmas junk at the tiny local second hand store. It really is just junk and normally I would leave it right where I saw it. But because I'm still going through my sensory bin phase and Daniel is always asking for "prodrects," I brought them home. For a few bucks I got some pinecones, decorative sprigs of this n that, beaded snowflake ornaments, and some pompoms. At home, I added some squished bows from the wrapping drawer and some ancient cinnamon sticks from the spice cupboard. Fiona and Daniel dug through that bin and sniffed things and exclaimed over all the little doodads they found. They were busy for at least 30 minutes!
After they were done digging, I brought out a sorting tray and asked how they could use it for their bin. Fiona decided to sort the items, but I let Daniel decide the sorting rule. I thought for sure he would sort by type: pinecones, bows, ornaments, pompoms...and then run out of sections and ask for a second tray. Instead, he decided that everything would be sorted by shape: circles (spheres, technically), ovals, stars, and things with sticks poking out of them that looked bushy. Everything else went in the center. Boy, did I have fun watching them come up with their ideas!
