Acquiring the duck.

My teenager diligently saves change in a dinosaur piggy bank and has devised an insanely intelligent way of acquiring said change.  When her friends at school buy items for lunch or snack, she simply asks them for their leftover change. None of them care about a few pennies, nickles and dimes.

Little do they know....

I recently took her to cash her change into dollars at one of these high tech coin taking machines in a local grocery store. She shook the plastic green dinosaur for all it was worth. $42.55 later, my mouth dropped open. Apparently $.01 + $.05 eventually equals $42.55. A smart girl, this one (sniff, so proud).

We were in line with the cash ticket to change it for real money when I noticed a quarter machine. I automatically revert to the age of five. My eyes sparkle and I clasp my hands in anticipation. They typically are disappointing, with candy or stickers. But every so often they hold a true treasure. Like miniature plastic ducks. This was the case.

I start jumping up and down saying, "Oooooh, ducks!" And then I notice the gem. "Wow! A vampire duck! I wonder if I could win that!" I automatically reach for my shoulder, and realize I've left my purse in the truck. And longingly look at my kid.

She sees the look in my eyes and says, "Yes mom, you can have a quarter." I don't even have to ask! Oh joy! I put the quarter in and get a yellow duck. The disappointment was overwhelming. My face falls.

"Here mom, you can have another quarter." YAY me! I put the coin in and turn the knob while chanting, "Vampire duck, vampire duck." I get a smiley face duck. Gah. The horror.

My kid feels so bad she actually gets back in line to change her dollar for quarters, even though she just changed her dinosaur coins for the dollar. I hold the sparkly quarter like it is a handful of diamonds and put it in the machine. You would think it was a slot machine with a million dollar payoff, I was so excited. My adrenaline starts pumping as I carefully insert the coin. Cow duck. Really? My kid says, "Mom, I have good luck, let me try." And she wins. Vampire Duck is mine!!! I unintentionally let out a scream of joy and commence a happy dance with the duck raised triumphantly over my head. I stop dead still as I now realize there are a good ten people watching this entire scenario unfold and they are now laughing.

I assess the situation and realize how ridiculous it may seem to outsiders. I am the kid begging for a quarter for a plastic duck, and my kid is now the adult giving me quarters for the machine. Great. Well, at least I got the duck.

You can see my new collection of ducks and our adventures at my other blog- Duck Bob. Duck! "Fang" is pictured above.

Fang's photoshoot was done by my loving sister who always entertains my sillyness. Suzanne, I love you.