Future Frugalista...maybe

Yesterday, the little girl I babysit came over. She'd actually gotten out of school early because of teachers' conferences, but I was at work so she spent an hour with a neighbor. She came down with a few friends (they weren't going to stay--I'm not a nursery school, I just help out my daughter's friend and make a little money doing it). I gave her the option of staying with my daughter for about an hour, or coming to the grocery with me.
The little boy she was with said the ice cream man was coming soon. Didn't she want to wait? I told her she could--Katherine would watch her for a bit. But then I said, 'on the other hand, you could get ice cream at the grocery.' She thought about this (she's 8, and thinking about spending $3 on ice cream is profound) and finally decided to go with me.
Well, wasn't she surprised that a whole gallon of chocolate chip mint ice cream cost just a little more than she would have spent on one ice cream pop from a truck! She was pretty proud of herself.
She tried to give me her $3, which was mostly dimes. I told her to keep it and paid for the ice cream myself. It was more important for her to see a better way to spend her money.

I'm not telling you I never chase down the ice cream man. But only Mr. Softee--it's the only truck that has soft-serve cones and butterscotch sundaes. I save up for those, LOL!