Grateful

A few weeks ago Alyssa asked me what I’d buy here if we won the lottery.

I thought for a minute before telling her that honestly, her life wouldn’t change all that much if we won the lottery.

(For the record, we don’t even play the lottery, so winning is not an option. The girl just likes to imagine a scenario where we could/would buy her a horse.)

She asked me why her life wouldn’t change.

I explained that she’s got a pretty good life right now. Sure, we refuse to buy her a cell phone or a lap top but that’s because she’s eleven years old, not because we don’t have the money for it.

I told her that we’re incredibly lucky to be living a life that allows us to provide her and her sister with all their basic needs and still have a little left over to occasionally buy them the things they want.

She started to argue that we never buy her anything she wants when I pointed to the combat boots she was wearing. She didn’t need those boots. She wanted them and I was able to get them for her.

I’m so incredibly thankful for this life we’re living. I never want to take for granted the privilege we live with. I know how lucky I am that I don’t worry about which bill to pay this week. I don’t have to put all the bills in a hat and draw to see whether we’ll have electricity or gas money this month.

Tom and I work hard but more than that, we’re very lucky to live in the place and time in which we live. We’re lucky to have the means to provide for our children while hopefully instilling in them the need to continue to better ourselves, to work harder for an even better life.

I did tell Alyssa that if we ever did win the lottery (really do need to start playing) her life wouldn’t change much but mine probably would. If we won the lottery, I could stop working. I could volunteer at her school and embarrass her every single day.

She stopped asking for a horse at that point and left the room in a huff.

I wonder if it was something I said.