Day one, 5 minutes in, I was already worried.
If you haven’t read the set-up for today’s post, you can read Part One. I pick up where I left off…
Just a few blocks from our house, I was filling up on gas, and the boy decided to hit the convenience store. Blew nearly half his daily allowance on junk food. I reminded him this was a full travel day, and he still needed to cover his lunch and dinner.
In the past, he and I were collaborating on our spends because our budget was shared. This morning, I’d given each kiddo $20 for the day. I didn’t plan to hand them cash each morning of the trip, but I wanted them to have to handle the transactions at the register and watch the money disappear over the day. Plus I knew we’d probably split up for lunch. We’d planned to stop somewhere in the southern suburbs of Salt Lake City for this meal, and I knew we’d be able to find a mall area with a concentration of different chain restaurants.
Shit! I could already see the plan falling apart with me having to cover his dinner and then having to dictate how he spent his food allowance for the remainder of the trip. This was supposed to be helpful not painful. Maybe it was a bad idea after all.
We did indeed find one of those restaurant concentrations, and each of us chose a different place to eat. The boy was down to just a few dollars and we still had to figure out dinner. Once we got to our day’s destination, after over 9 hours on the road, my mind was racing to find a way he could get enough to eat on just a couple bucks. I Googled nearby pizza places and suggested we each pitch in $5 which took him barely negative for the day. Whew! He was alright with that, and so was I.
I also modeled generosity by buying a big cookie from the hotel food counter and splitting it three ways for dessert.
The next day there was some definite collaborating with the kids pooling money for lunch and even sharing with me who chose not to spend anything at that stop. The girl has mostly eaten here at our friends’ house and grabbed some snacks when we stopped at the grocery store. The boy has had the option to get a take-out burger on those days he doesn’t like what’s available and it’s been so low stress!
We’re nearing the end of our visit, and after several fun outings including a train ride into Olvera Street in Los Angeles one day and a decadent adventure to Porto’s Cuban Bakery where we indulged in delightfully beautiful sweet treats (where I used some of my surplus to contribute a pastry to each of their collections of self-chosen goodies,) both kids are pretty happy with the surplus they’ve been able to amass—even as they shared their precious purchases. Mind you, generous friends shared meals, additional pastries from Porto’s, and even additional cash for the kids’ purses.
Talk about abundance!
Restoring Justis 