Daughter 'coins' change in our home

Quarters, dimes, nickels and even pennies aren't safe in our home.

Our 9-year-old, Bailey, has made it her mission to find every last penny that's been gathering dust in our home and in our cars.

Joni recently gave our daughter a plastic bank jar with a battery powered lid that automatically counts and totals the change pushed through the slot.

Over the weekend, she managed to scrape together more than $65 in change. Much of what she found was in a bowl on my dresser. But she also rummaged through our vans and Joni's purse.

She discarded only some pennies she found in my van that somehow had become glued together with something that looked black like tar but was probably the remains of some chocolate candy.

When change jingles in our pockets, Bailey is ready to pounce. She heard the jingle-jangle of change in Joni's pants pocket as she walked through the house Sunday.

Bailey immediately sprang to action, grabbing for the change.

About the only change she hasn't touched are the 50 state quarters that our family is collecting. I've told her those collected quarters, two of each state, are off-limits.

It's great to see that Bailey has a desire to keep track of all that change. But I miss having a bowl full of coins on my dresser. It was always reassuring to know that I could scrape together a dollar in change at a moment's notice.

But now I'll have to bank on Bailey's bank jar for a few quick quarters.

Bailey clutches the jar like it's her most prized possession.

I'm slightly concerned. I don't want her to become a Scrooge.

Bailey's sister, 13-year-old Becca, isn't the least bit interested in all that change.

She prefers dollar bills and higher currency.

After all, even today's high-tech piggy banks don't hold enough change to buy a single pair of designer jeans favored by the teenage crowd.

It's amazing how much teen jeans cost, even those new ones that are made to look like they've been chewed up by a goat. It would take a a truckload of change to pay for such fashion.

Becca wouldn't want to be seen carting around that much change.

Speaking of change, Joni and I may have to start hiding ours. It's either that or face having our change pilfered every night.

It might not hurt to hide our currency, too.

Joni and I both had piggy banks when we were kids. But unlike today's high-tech affairs, ours were shaped like pigs.

Not only that, you had to count all that change by hand. After a few minutes, I usually got tired of counting.

The automatic counter makes it a whole lot more fun to drop in the change. It also allows you to avoid counting and miscounting all those nickels and dimes.

Besides, who wants to manually count pennies?

One of my cousins used to pay for gas at the service station with pennies. But that was decades ago. With the price of gas now, pennies wouldn't get out of the service station lot.

But even in today's pricey world, Bailey still values pennies when they add up in the jar. Of course, she would prefer quarters. The money adds up faster.

Fortunately, she has almost filled the jar.

Then maybe Joni and I can ask for a withdrawal.

Mark Bliss is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.