I'm not exactly sure how old I was when I first figured out what money was... Maybe it was when I was a toddler, and I evidently (from my mother's stories) LOVED grabbing things and flushing them down the toilet. This includes money that was laid out on the table being sorted to pay bills. Yes, I flushed about $800 down the toilet. Anyway, I can remember going into a convenience store when I was a small child and being allowed to pick out a candy for a certain price. By the time I was 8, I was an expert. With a quarter, I could get a small box of lemon heads AND a jolly rancher!
But here's the thing, Stinka is 8, and she really has NO concept of money...
Before we became Stinka's parents, the only places she had been were the orphanage, the hospital, and summer camp. All the things she ever needed just appeared out of thin air (food, water, clothes, soap, etc.). The first time we took her to the grocery store in Moscow, she tried to push everything out of the basket. She thought we had to eat all the food right then. She didn't know we had to pay for items and tried to walk out of the store with an item. Now, whenever I check out at the store, I let her swipe my card and push some of the buttons. (I hardly ever have cash!) But I think I've been doing her a disservice. She has no concept of money. The week after spring break, she got math homework about money. She couldn't tell a nickle from a penny. Now she knows their names and values, but she is still having problems adding it up. I think for her there is no purpose. She has a piggy bank that hubby gives her money to put into now and again, but I think she thinks she's just collecting stuff. I think we're going to have to start taking nightly trips to the convenience store to see how much candy she can get for 50 cents. I highly doubt they sell anything for a penny anymore.
