ARRH, 'TIS PIECES OF EIGHT

This week we've been introducing Noodle to the concept of money, savings, and delayed gratification, on the road to Allowanceville and Chorestown. And delayed gratification is hard to do for grown-ups, let alone a four-year old. Your first hurdle may be a lot like ours. We showed Noodle a dollar bill and demonstrated what it was for...and she was bored, because your basic one-dollar bill is even less flashy to a kid than it is to a grown up. Enter the Mint:

Oooh...shiny!

This the Noodle likes. It's so much clinkier and prettier than a grubby old crumpled-up bill.

That, by the way, is the flip-side of the dollar coins the US Mint has been rolling out since last year. The front sides depict the presidents, and so far they've gotten up to Monroe. Whatever. All she knows is that thirteen of them will get her the My Little Pony toy she wants so desperately, and to get a coin she has to go to bed promptly at 8 without any stalling or kvetching or melodrama.

Eventually, we transition this into her allowance for doing household chores. I have been waiting for this since the moment she was born. Get to work, kiddo - daddy is freakin' beat.