The Hippie and the Surprise Box

Since school is almost out for my kids again, I thought I'd share a fun story from last year.

The Hippie and the Scribe's last day of school was yesterday--gotta love year-round school.  Anyway, to celebrate that school finally ended IN JULY, last week the entire school had a fair.  The Scribe promptly told me she'd need some trinkets and things to sell.  The Hippie, however, never said a thing.  And when last night came, I asked if she'd participated too.
    "Yeah.  The whole school had a fair.  We saved tickets all year to spend them.  I didn't want to bother you or ask for things to sell, so I thought of something else. . . ."
    "Really?"
    "Yeah.  I grabbed things people left around the house.  I found some really great stuff and some bad things too.  You know how you tell us not to leave toys on the ground and if we do, you'll throw them away?"
    I nodded and bit my fist because it was hard not laughing.  That threat had been a bluff.  Why?  Because I'm a hoarder.  Yet she'd followed through for me.  The Hippie rocks!
    "But when the other grades started coming through my class's sale, none of the kids wanted to buy used toys."  She looked at me with her icy blue eyes.  "I wasn't selling a thing."
    "That's sad.  I'm sorry.  You should have asked for my help."
    "No way.  I was doing things myself.  Plus, I wouldn't let something like that get me down."  She grinned.  "I knew there was a way to get around it.  My teacher had a cardboard box in the corner of the room.  I asked if I could use it and she just smiled and nodded, watching me the whole time.  "I decorated the box and wrote on the side: Surprise Box. Take a chance for five tickets....  Then I put all my junk inside."

    That was a bit witty--impressive actually.  "Five tickets . . . was that a lot?"
    "Yeah, but kids actually paid!  My desk was the most popular place to be."
    "Did the kids like what they got?"
    "Some did.  Some didn't.  But they were taking a chance on a surprise.  That was their own fault."
    I started laughing then.  I know I shouldn't have, but she took me off guard!
    "One kid got a baby toy and I told him right away, 'You get what you get and you don't throw a fit.'"
    Wow, so he got a bargain AND some advice that day.
    "You're ingenious.  You know that?" I said.
    "You kidding?  I don't even know what ingenious means."
    "It means you're pretty dang smart."
    "Yeah.  I've learned a lot this year." The Hippie curled up next to me on the couch.  "Second grade was great.  I started out as a girlie girl and ended up as a tomboy.  I'm so glad I think about girl AND boy things now.  Girlie girls just think about their hair all the time."
    "There's more to life than hair?"
    "Oh yeah.  There's cool things like surprise boxes!"
    "You are hilarious."
    "And ignious."
    "Ingenious."
    "Whatever."  She suddenly jumped up and ran toward the stairs. "Scribe, come here," she yelled to her older sister.  "I have an idea for how we can make some money this summer.  It's gonna be epic."
    "As long as it isn't a fundraiser, then I'm in," the Scribe replied.  "Fundraisers never turn out well when I hold them for myself."
    Heaven help me when those two grow up!  I really wonder what the future holds for a couple of girls who are so hysterical and resourceful.