She Stops for Pennies

     This year I was blessed with a wonderful roommate, Miss Molly Lane. To write everything I learned from Molly, would take at least twenty blog posts, so I’m just going to highlight the most recent. As we were walking to our last Teaching Reading and Language Arts Class, Molly stopped dead in her tracks and yelled, “A penny!” She then went on to say that no one takes time to stop for coins, but it’s “Free monaaaay!” She added that people throw away coins all the time, but coins are still money. “Never be too proud to stop for pennies.” This got me thinking, how many times am I too proud to “stop for pennies?” Not even just pennies, but lots of things. I get too wrapped up in my schedule and to-do lists that I miss out on so many little joys of life.
    I was reassured of this the next day when I kept five year old sassy Sofie. We went on a play date to Sweet CeCe’s with her friend Eva, which Sofie was so excited about, as she kept yelling “This is going to be the funnest! Seriously the best thing ever!” The girls had a blast filling up their bowls with weird combinations of frozen yogurt and interesting mixes of toppings. After they ate their frozen yogurt, we went outside to walk back to our cars. We were in a hurry so I was trying to speed Sofie up and get her to the car, as she insisted on climbing on the handrails and balancing on the parking bumpers. I remembered what it is like to be five, and how the whole world is your playground; where nothing is ordinary or common, but an arsenal of potential.
    When did I stop viewing the world as a playground? When did I stop seeking opportunities to play? When did the pursuit of fun get put on the back burner? I want it back. I want to be a trapeze walker on a concrete block in a parking lot, and I want to stop for pennies!