Grand theft candy

Our older daughter FABJ is enjoying summer camp, which is an easy 5 minute bike ride (with her in the bike seat) up the road.  The highlight is that she gets to go to the pool every day.  Moreover, she is not told what to do when in the pool, which was a major drawback to swimming lessons.  In general, she hates to be told what to do (except sometimes at school), which is a major drawback to learning just about anything (to read, to play tennis, to swim, etc.).  But she can swim and gets to go in the “second pool” without floaties, unlike the kids stuck in the “first pool” with their floaties.

Anyway, on Tuesday I pick her up, and she’s in an even better mood than usual.  She explains how she bought some candy at the “tuck shop.”  As far as I can tell, this is a shop in the school selling candy and other items to make money for the school.  Now I am a bit confused because a) she doesn’t have any money and b) the teacher told me that the shop was only open on Monday and Friday (i.e. not Tuesday).  So I foolishly ask how she bought the candy.  She goes into great detail that she “found” a two-euro coin at the art table.  Then she talked somebody into exchanging this two euros for some candy on a day other than the designated candy days.  This is not the kind of skill I want my daughter to have, but it was hilarious to hear her explain how logical the entire process was.  She had a look of utter disbelief as LBJ explained that if she found money in the future, she needed to give it to the teacher (to be returned to the kid who lost the two euros) rather than spend it on candy!

Here, I should point out that genetics are likely in play here.  My father went on leave at Stanford when I started first grade.  The teacher asked the class whether they preferred reading or recess.  To me, it seemed like a very stupid question.  Of course I wanted recess!  Apparently, we were supposed to ask our parents.  I knew my preference and did not feel the need to ask my parents.  When they found out about this situation a few weeks into the school, I suspect they had a similar reaction – laughter combined with fear about the teenage years.  Luckily for my parents, laziness and growing up in the middle of nowhere in Iowa largely kept me out of trouble as a teenager.