First, let me back you up to about a week ago. Trenton and I were at out usual after school hang out, Jr foods, to buy our usual after school snack, jungle juice and winter fresh gum, and Trenton asked me if he could pay for his juice and gum. Thinking that he was asking me if he could hand the cashier "my" money, I said, "sure!' Before I knew it, he had threw his snacks onto the counter, took off running to the car (with me going behind him yelling "what are you doing?!") and came back with his little wallet from his backpack that he uses to carry his snack money in. There he was taking his dollar bills intended for snack money at school out his wallet, and paying for his own snack. In my mind I got so tickled over it because I thought bless his heart, he doesn't realize that I am going to have to put those dollars right back in it for the rest of the week. But, I did just think this and made sure I didn't say it because I by far did not want to ruin the moment for Trenton.
The day after our adventure of wanting to pay for snacks by himself, Trenton, out of the blue, came into the living room and said "Hey mommy! I have an idea! I should get a paper route on Nana's street, and you should go sell lemonade in town and David can just go to work like he does and we will be rich!" :) Too freaking cute!!! And as the days went on, he was dead serious about getting a paper route on Nana's street. Dead serious to the point he had planned and plotted every bit of it out in his mind. He was going to take his bike to Nana's house, I was to drop him off there in the afternoons, and he would begin riding his bike with his paper satchel at his side and ride his bike one handed so he could toss the newspapers in the yards for the neighbors. But unfortunately, there is no hope of this paper route dream coming true being The Glasgow Daily Times is no longer delivering papers and are being mailed in (from what I understand).
Now, to Thursday. Trenton was showing my friend Barbie how fast he can ride his dirt bike now and how brave he has gotten (yes, she had to turn her head because of being so nervous watching him rip and roar with the throttle pinned going up and down the street and through the fields! lol). After showing off and doing his "stunts" for Barbie, I told him to take one more ride up the street and to ride it back down to put up for the evening. While standing in the driveway to make sure he was coming right back down, I saw him pull over into the gravel make-shift driveway of the house they are building up at the top of our street and start talking to the owners of it that were up there checking on the progress of it. Of course, I had to boot scoot up there to make sure he wasn't bothering anybody, and when walking up, Trenton was asking the man if he had anything he could help him with that would pay him at least 2 dollars a day in order to buy his own jungle juice. The man told Trenton that he could use some help getting the trash and shingles up off the ground and that he would be up there on Saturday and Sunday and to look for his truck to go up the road and when he saw it, to come on up and help. Excited. Understatement! Trenton jumped on his dirt bike and got it in the garage as soon as possible and came running in the house yelling "David!! I got a job! I got a job!" At dinner that night, this new job was by far the most popular topic at the dinner table! :)
And on to today and the point of my
After Trenton's ambitions of what he was going to turn into today, I stood at the door and watched him run as fast as he could up the street to the house where that famous truck was sitting. What seemed like forever to me because I kept wondering if he was really up there working or if he was just possibly in the way, but after being reminded by David to let go and let him out from under my wing for a moment in life, and not to go up there because it will just throw him off and make him feel like he really isn't at work, I sat here at the house peeking out the door for the next 2 hours until I heard the door open while standing in the bedroom, and heard his little feet pounding against the floor beneath him the whole way through the house until he found me in the house. One look, and I knew he had been put to work! His face was blood red, his hair looked as if he hadn't drank his water but had poured it over his head, and he was covered from head to toe in dirt. There in his hands were his little work gloves, and his jug of water with only a small piece of an ice chunk left in the bottom, and some money. He was so excited to tell me about his first day of work! He told me about the snake they saw when they lifted up the big concrete block which the man picked up with a stick and tossed into the field, how the man referred to him as "mate" (Trenton didn't realize the man was from Australia), and how he and the man took a break on a concrete block in the shade under the tree and they both drank water. Then, OF COURSE, he had to show off the money he made to me and David. A whopping 3 dollars!! I made sure I didn't react in a negative way about it in front of Trent because he was too proud of earning that money for me to ruin it with my grown up attitude but 3 dollars? Seriously? I figured at least $5!
I seriously almost felt sorry for him! It was kind of pitiful... the more I thought about an 8yr old being so excited to go to work when so many adults WONT work and you CANT get to work, and him out there in the sun working his little tail off and only getting paid $3, the more I felt sorry for him. And what made me feel even more sorry for him was the fact that he was so excited over those 3 one dollar bills, that he never stopped to think of the sheer principal behind it. Apparently, I wasn't the only one that saw 3 dollars as not being fit, because after about 15 minutes of sitting here thinking and talking about it, David yelled for Trenton to come into the living room where he was. When he got in there David said "Trenton, I'm really proud of you today. You gave someone your word, got up and didn't try to wiggle your way out of it, and went to work like a man with a positive attitude and stuck it out until the job was done, so I am going to give you $2 for every $1 you earned, and a dollar bonus (making it to where he had an even $10 that he earned). Hearing David tell him this and seeing David get his wallet out and seeing what kind of smile it brought onto Trenton's face, it made my day. I then felt that Trenton had been treated the right way. Normally, I am not a person that is concerned with money (other than having to pay bills, but who isn't? I'm referring to the point on who has money and who doesn't, I could care less. Money doesn't make you. You make money!) but knowing how excited Trenton was and how he kept the most positive attitude I believe I have ever seen out of a kid, my attitude towards those dollar bills wasn't like it usually is. Sure, I know this is wrong of me to feel this way, but every mother wants the BEST and ONLY the BEST for their child so ya can't hate me for that! :) Luckily, every one's emotions were kept in check and no mixed messages were sent about the day and its adventure ( a huge one for Trenton).
Fortunately, through every left hook that is thrown at you, there is always something to take from it and make it a good thing. Today, watching Trenton be so positive over something that I thought was wrong in a way, and knowing that Trenton knows $3 is not a lot of money and it won't buy much, but seeing him keep the best attitude with the biggest smile, turned my attitude around. Why be sour about it? Trenton wanted a job, which he took seriously and took upon himself to find (rare! lol), he kept his word and got up early to make sure he didn't miss a moment of work (he told me when he got up the hill to the truck he asked the man "am I right on time?" *makes me smile every time I think about him saying that!*, and he put forth everything in him in order to do a good job and to get the job done. Why in the world would I not be completely satisfied? The feeling it gave Trenton along with the feeling of how absolutely proud I am of him is something that money will never be able to buy. What more could I possibly ask for out of this situation? It might not have went as my mind had planned for it to go, and I am sure it was different than what Trenton had pictured it being like in his own little mind, but it allowed each of us to have our own special feeling for the day. Me- proud. Very Proud. Trenton- accomplished. David- shocked (he didn't think he would get up and go today and that he would back out of it once he realized how hot it would be outside) :) Guess Trenton showed him!!!! :D
P.S. If I got a little cooky and confusing to you, I apologize! I was trying to type this while a million other things were going on and had to walk away from it for hours at a time before being able to get it finished unlike where I am usually glued to it until it's finished that way my thinking stays on track and doesnt get too totally off on ya!!
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