A Conversation with Eclair

The following conversation occured this morning. After Eclair missed the bus and we were hurrying to finish getting ready and rush out the door.

"Mom, I want to take my Pillow Pet to school for show and tell..."

(For those of you who don't know what a Pillow Pet is, I envy you. They have invaded and taken over my home.)

"...but I have to pay thirty dollars."

Thirty dollars?

for show and tell?

??

I am outraged. Why would my child need to PAY to participate in show and tell? Show and tell should be free!!! It's the right of every American child to drag their ephemera to school and make people admire it! It's a grade school tradition, for heaven's sake! I can understand a teacher's setting aside only a certain day each week for the event, or restricting them to certain types of items, or participating once a month or something, but PAY? for show and tell?

And special ed kids are the worst (Eclair especially). They smuggle contraband show and tell items to school in the backpack every day. EVERYTHING they own is fascinating and needs to be shared with other like minded individuals. I once unzipped her very heavy backpack to find the stupid complacent cat in there. So, yes, restrictions. But MONEY? Explanation, please, Eclair.

"You can bring show and tell any day, but you have to pay thirty dollars, or give four auction trades instead. Mr. C said he would pay me a hundred dollars if I do my homework EVERY DAY. Do you have a pencil?"

So, not real dollars. Classroom auction dollars. Commerce. Is it a good thing? If it makes her do her homework, yes. If it means she's raiding my wallet, no.
.