Image: Part of our family's Matchbox cars collection.
Whilst helping me tidy the breakfast table, I noticed Mr. 6 had stopped at the kitchen sink and was having way too much fun with something I knew couldn't have anything to do with cleaning cups and saucers. As I walked towards him I noticed he had my artificial sweetener container in his hand.
"Mama, look, I can aim so well that I can flick the tablet all the way to the tap! Look, wanna see me do it again?", he said excitedly.
"Okay, but just one more", I replied. Let him have a bit of fun, I thought.
"Mama, can I please have some more turns, please?", pleading as any six year old would. I then thought I had better nip this little game of his, in the bud.
"Sweety, do you know how much that container costs?". I though I had better focus his attention on something else and maybe even have him realise the monetary worth of something, guessing one is never too young.
"Look, I hit another shot...cool!" he exclaimed.
"Well, this cost $8.00", I tried to explain. He looked up at me, puzzled, turning his upper lip on one side.
Realising this really meant nothing to him I then said: "This costs as much as four Matchbox cars", I stated, pretty pleased with myself for the analogy.
This set my mind to thinking about how many Matchbox cars my boys possessed. Not only had Mr 6 acquired his own collection (yes, the bribes for all those times he had accompanied me grocery shopping) but, his brother (Mr almost-16) had also given him a fraction of his lot, which also contained some original hand-me-down Matchbox cars from my own, now 24 years old brother. Some of them, I imagined, were probably worth a pretty penny (in original condition and box, which of course, none had been in since the day they were enthusiastically torn open!).
Just as I devise a plan to purchase a whole load of Matchbox cars, as a future investment, Mr. 6 interrupts my train of thought.
"Mum, can you buy me a Matchbox car. It's been such a long time since you bought one for me, please, please", he begged, cute lisp and all!
So much for getting his mind off the task at hand!
Have you ever devised a plan to distract someone, only having that plan come back to bite you?
