Cheapskate

Out of nowhere, last Friday afternoon I looked at the mister and said, "Ice skating lessons!" I then had to frame my reference as a response to his question a week earlier about a birthday gift for our youngest child's 10th birthday. I phoned one of three (Seriously, people, three--- in Texas!) ice rinks within a 12-mile radius to ask about lessons. One was not yet in session, and the call was just in time to register for the next weekly beginner lesson that happens to fall on our only open night of the week. It starts tonight. Her birthday is in November.
So. Yes, the kiddie will receive another early birthday gift since the lessons start before the Big Day. (The stale cupcakes we'll drop off at the school to share at lunchtime the day of her actual birthday may be a little anticlimactic...) In keeping with this year's Early Bird theme, Grandma and Granddad gifted our girl with cash--- probably because she said she wanted a bike. She did not deign to purchase a bike, but instead opted tp sit on her nest egg for a time. This weekend we took her out to shop for ice skates instead of a bike. The outing served as a reminder that our kid has Cadillac taste on a bicycle budget.

The pair she fell for were gleaming white leather boots straight out of Disney's "Ice Princess". They were also priced well above the crumpled bills crammed in our would-be princess's jeans pocket. We left the store with a very sad, disappointed would-be skater and no ice skates. At home, the internet offered up an alternative pair of pearly white leather skates by the same maker at about half the price. Our not-so-little skater will be wearing rental skates for her first lesson tomorrow while we wait for her pair to ship, but she will wear those rentals with the knowledge that her own are on the way. More importantly, by waiting, she's not broke in the acquisition of the skates. That may be the real gift we give her this year.