Tuesdays Unwrapped

In honor of Emily's weekly carnival, I have to take a moment to unwrap a couple of things today. I've been unwrapping them again and again over the last few days!

1. Gator earns tickets at school to be used at the end of the week to "buy" things from the Treasure Box. On Friday, he chose three things from the box. He got a Sheriff's badge for himself, a bag of cookies for Bull, and a special little something for me. When he got home, he told me that he had a surprise for me. He made me close my eyes and put out my hands. My sweet boy bought a necklace for me! Of course, I cried. I told some of my friends that that single act would hold me over for the next four months!

2. After the first day of school, we stopped at Target so that the boys could pick out their "first day" prize. I gave them a price limit, and they went to town. Gator chose a Power Ranger morpher, as did Bull. However, Gator had his eye on something else that was out of the price range for that day. I told him that if he wanted it, he could save up his money and buy it at a later time.

Well, he started saving! (I went back a couple of days later to buy it to ensure that it would be available once he had saved the money.) He started doing extra work around the house (he already has "man jobs" that he has to do anyway) to earn money. Our neighbors started taking notice, and they offered him some jobs as well. For example, he lets D's dogs out every day after school.

Finally, after 3 1/2 weeks of working and saving (and selling some toys at Saturday's garage sale), he had enough money to buy the toy on Saturday! He told me he wanted to go to the store, and I revealed that I had it hidden upstairs already. He got a big smile on his face and handed over the money.

I'm so proud of the young man that Gator is becoming. He has such a sweet heart. I'm so blessed to be his Mommy.