Payback

When I was a little girl, I used to slip into the hall closet and fish through my parents' coats for change. Each of them had at least two or three coats in that closet; it being Indiana, land of changeable weather. Dad's coats always had enough change that I could take a quarter or two from each pocket without fear of being discovered. He also had a change jar in the bathroom in which he deposited solely quarters. That was pretty tempting too.

Well, now I guess it's payback time. We don't have a hall closet, so when I come home most days I simply lay my bags, purse, books, etc. on a living room chair. We recently began teaching Riley about the different values of the coins in our monetary system. Add to that a piggy bank given to him by his Aunt Kate that plays "You Are My Sunshine" whenever you deposit a coin. Apparently those two things together have created my very own personal pickpocket. Invariably, at some point during the evening, I discover Riley standing in front of the chair with my belongings and opening my wallet to extract all my change for deposit in his piggy. He seems to prefer the quarters...I guess it runs in the family.