Who says money doesn't grow on trees
Dec 27 '00
My oldest sons birthday is in September so we usually have a end of summer family cook out for his birthday. A couple of years ago, family members were asking what can you get a 12 year old boy who has everything? He's really too old for toys and a lot of people don't like to give clothes as gifts because it's really hard to choose clothing that pre teens will actually like. So when Wills couldn't decide on anything special he wanted, he said I'll just take money and get me something later when I find what I want. That sounds easy enough, no shopping, no toys that won't get played with and no clothes to exchange.
We invited family members and close friends included the note with the invitation, don't bring a gift, he wants money. Please bring whatever amount you would spend on a gift in small bills. My cousin took a small tree [actually a couple of branches] spray painted it gold and placed it in a sand bucket of pennies as the base. [her gift 1000 pennies or $10]
and yes we had to roll them but that was fun too.
As guest began to arrive, they would put "leaves" on the tree. The leaves were $$$ some would give $3.00, some $5.00, $10.00 and of course grandma's $25 one dollar bills. Each "leaf" was rolled up and tied with brightly colored ribbons to the tree. One uncle got real creative and decided the tree needed some "fruit", so thus far we had to come up with an idea to attach a roll of quarters to the branches. Having a first grade teacher in the family is always handy. She figured out scotch tape would attach the "fruit" to the tree and make it shiny.
Wills was so excited to see his tree, because we had kept it hid, and I think he was getting a little worried as guests arrived with no gift or no cards on the table. We kept all the birthday cards hidden too. When he took the tree home and the "leaves" started to fall and the "fruit" was picked, he had a harvest of over $100. With just a little added cash from Dad, he was able to purchase a brand new Bicycle, that his little brother now rides 3 years later.
So when you get really frustrated at the children for wanting everything in sight, and tell them that "money doesn't grow on trees" ! Just remember sometimes it does...
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ggrimes1221
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