The Five Dollar Fourth

It's the fourth of July.  We have family over and have had a very nice time.   The fireworks have happened and my daughter is nowhere to be found, hiding out at a neighbor's house because she really, really hates fireworks because they're so loud.   I have a feeling she'll be home soon.

I wanted to tell this story very quickly before I'm called to the backyard for s'mores.   Yesterday I let out the dog and left the door barely open so the dog could press on it and let me know when she wanted to come in.  I always set a timer on my watch for five minutes in case she doesn't come back quickly.   But yesterday, I forgot. 

Several hours later I noticed the door cracked and said, "who left the door open?" in an accusatory manner of a mother who doesn't want to have all the cool air flow out of the house into the backyard.   Only no one had been outside in the back.   

And then it hit me, I had opened the door and had forgotten all about the dog.   I called for her and called and in a few seconds, the dog came padding down from upstairs.   But how did she get inside?   No one had let her in, everyone was sure. 

This morning the mystery was solved.  Keira from two houses over and one of my daughter's best friends had noticed her in their yard.  She came to our house, opened the front door, and let her back in.   This morning when we found out, my son said to me, "mom, can you take five dollars from my allowance and give it to Keira?"  He wanted to thank her for saving our dog.  

I went to give Keira the money and she kindly declined.   She said it wasn't anything and she was glad to help.  I told my son I was very touched he would want to give his allowance away because Keira had made sure our dog was safe. 

The Big Boy Update:  My son was all involved with the fireworks but when he was done, he came inside. His friends knocked on the door beside his computer and asked for him to come back out.  He said, I'm tired, my back hurts and I have a headache.   I told him he sounded almost as old as I did.  

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter went into the filament closet and picked out a spool and asked me to make her a surprise, "with this color".  I told her when she went to bed which printer would have her surprise when she woke up and she could get it off the print bed if she wanted.   She now has a lovely little bright orange tree frog to go with her other 3D printed animals she keeps in her room.