Thursday, May 07, 2009

My non-working spouse!

Oh! What a fun day the girls had at "Take Your Daughter To Work Day"!

Last year, AngelWings came home telling us of all the wonderful things that she had gotten to see and do, so this year Cricket was thrilled that she was old enough to attend the festivities as well!

So the previous evening we laid out our clothes, Daddy prepared Cricket with her hot chocolate and AngelWings with her "coffee" (mostly milk...you haven't tried to wake up this tween!), and they headed out the door!

Lovey and I had a fantabulous time just spending the day together...we went out to breakfast together, did some shopping, got our hair cut (thanks, Maria!), lunch, more shopping...a wonderful day spent as "just you and me time"!

That evening when we were all back together, the girls told me of their wonderful day with their daddy at work. One of their favorite (and most memorable!) activities was the game that they played called "Reality Check." They were each assigned different jobs/incomes/familial situations, and they had to go to different booths...bank, realty, automotive, insurance, clothing stores, daycare, utilities, grocery, entertainment/recreation, additional education, and their favorite..."that's life," which was unexpected events!

AngelWings' "reality check worksheet" showed that she was an Group Underwriter, making $60,700 with a college degree; she was married with two daughters, ages 4 and 6, and one son that was a year old....and a non-working spouse, who was able to take care of her children while she was working.

Cricket's "reality check worksheet" showed that she was a data entry operator, making $18,000 while she was working on her college degree; she was married to a working spouse, and together they had a two-year old son. She quickly came up with the idea of saving her daycare money and having grandparents watch her son.

Ricci said that it was so incredibly interesting to watch how the girls made their decisions as to how they spent/saved their money. AngelWings rented a huge, flashy townhouse while Cricket bought a small, modest home. AngelWings went clothes shopping four times while Cricket bought only necessary, store-brand items...although she did immediately acquire a cell phone and extensive cable tv! They both chose a used vehicle (although Cricket's first choice was a Hummer until she saw what it cost to operate it)! They both also enjoyed going to the "That's Life!" booth where they would draw a card which was some life event: receiving an inheritance, taxes' being due, kids' needing to go to the hospital, receiving bonuses at work, needing to do home repairs, needing dental work, winning the lottery, etc.

AngelWings benefited $100 from a bank error...to which she told the lady at the booth, "I'm going to go back and buy me a new pair of shoes!"

Each of the scenarios had options of with or without insurance, so the girls learned quickly that if they had already purchased health insurance then they only had to pay a co-pay versus the full doctor's bill. Auto-insurance: deductable vs. full cost of replacing a car. This activity provided all of the children with a good sense of the benefits of having insurance and also real world experiences.

Later that evening AngelWings questioned us as to what the word 'spouse' meant...I guess that word hasn't come up as of yet with the girls! And we've spent the rest of the week laughing that she had wondered all day long what it meant that her spouse was broken...as in her non-working spouse!

What a fun day they had....and the fact that Ricci got any work done that day is beyond me! The fact that he set that heavy work-day aside for the girls to enjoy this experience is just one of the many reasons why we love him as husband and daddy! Thank you!

2 comments:

churchgma said...

ok well i wrote a nice long message and it disappered!! will try again. I read your entries often and enjoy keeping up with the family. sorry we don't get a chance to get together more often and make some memories ourselves. Anyway some how i missed this one and found it roling back thru and just read it. This sounds like so much fun! Someone put a lot of work into this!! So glad she found out what a spouse ws so she could "Fix it"!! love ya all!!

Anonymous said...

Bravo, what excellent message