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Thursday, June 18, 2009

It’s getting close to Julia's 2nd birthday! And I can't believe Emma is almost 6 months old! Here's mom's favorite recent photo of me (taken by Joy)

What a Lady Would Say . . . By Sophia Rose

Mom:    What do you do in this situation?  A husband and wife are disagreeing over having a car wash done for their car.  The husband wants to get the car washed and split the costs of the car wash. The wife wants to save money and does not want the car washed.  The can't decide between the two of them.  The husband decides to go to a judge to ask the judge to work it out for them and asks the judge to make the wife pay for half a car wash.  The judge decides that they must get the car washed and that it shouldn't cost any more than $5.  The husband and wife bring the car to the car wash and have the car washed.  Before giving the car back to the husband and wife, the car washer says it actually will cost $10 and they cannot get the car back until they give him another $5.  The husband says okay and says he'll pay half of the additional $5.  The wife doesn't have the money to pay more.  What should the wife do?

Sophia:  Well, the wife doesn't want the car washer to un-do the wash, so she should come up with the money.  Does she have kids?  Maybe the kids can run a lemonade stand.

Mom:  No, the wife doesn't have kids.

Sophia:  Well, maybe she can go to the bank for a loan.

Mom:  She tried that but the banks said they can't lend her any money.

Sophia:  She could ask her friends if she borrow a little bit of money.

Mom:  Thanks.  Okay, a second scenario now . . . what if the judge told the husband and wife to definitely come back and tell the judge if it costs more than $5?  And the husband doesn't tell the judge but just says that he'll pay for half of the additional costs.  Should the wife tell the judge?

Sophia:  Then the wife should pay the money and then ask the judge if she can do anything about the amount over $5 (like talk to the car washer since the judge may want to know why the car wash cost more than $5.)  It's like going into Fat Burger and ordering a baby fat for $2.19 with just cheese.  The restaurant gives you the baby fat with all the toppings for $5 and why would you pay for something you don't want and pay more?  You should tell the restaurant that they can't serve you something you didn't order.  Well, actually, the baby fats are not $2.19.  It's TWO baby fats for $2.19!

Sophia:  Can I give you another example?  And I'll see whether you like it.  You have a book order and you order a collection of books for $10.  When the package comes, in it is a $20 magic kit.  You send to Scholastic a note that says you didn't order it.  And they said . . nothing.  And when you looked on your credit card (because you used your credit card to pay for it), for Scholastic, it said $20.  And you didn't want the magic kit.  So it's not fair.

Mom:  That's an excellent example.  I'm proud of you that you will speak up when you think there are mistakes or when you feel you are experiencing unfairness.  Those are both totally great examples.

Sophia: I like the Baby fat example better!

Mom:  So . . . here's another problem.  What if the husband and wife walk into Baby Fat burger and the wife wants a $2.19 special and the husband says he'll order it for her.  When he gets to the front of the line, he tells the cashier, what do you recommend?  The cashier recommends a $5 special with all the toppings and an Oreo milkshake.  He wants $10.  The husband pays it and then tells the wife the cost.  What should the wife do now?

Sophia:  She should tell the husband that's not what she ordered.  And she should say to the restaurant, that's not what I wanted.  That's what my husband ordered . Could you change my order please? If they say yes all is happy! If not Mom is sad. she can eat somewhere else and get to the ordering before Dad.