Price Tags

The elementary school’s fundraising gala program came home in Charming Baby's backpack, complete with auction item listings and their descriptions.  The Professor had already read through the details online and thought it would be fun to bid on “Navy Seal for a Day.”  The winner gets to go with a real Navy Seal to their elite training center here in San Diego and spend a day learning all about it.  All I could think was, “There’s a Navy Seal at the school and this is the first I've heard about it?”

I like to bid on experiences as well and sifted through the little booklet to see if there were any vacation packages for the family.

“Oh, Mom, I already read that and know what I want.”

This surprised me and made me laugh, picturing him stretched out on the sofa with his long legs crossed, scanning a list of offerings for anything that might appeal to him.

“I would like to do the Teacher Feature with Ms. White.”

Teacher Features are experiences that teachers from the school donate to the auction, like taking the four highest bidders to pizza and bowling for the afternoon.  Another popular one is a teacher who brings a lucky group to a Padres baseball game.  Ms. White is Charming Baby’s second-grade teacher and was offering a Scrapbooking Class.  I would never have guessed.

“Really?  What made you choose that one?”

“Well, I liked the trip to Belmont Park (boardwalk amusement with a roller coaster and arcade), but that’s another teacher and I want to do something with my teacher.  Plus I think you get dessert with Ms. White and I’m not sure you do with the other one.”

Charming Baby had to pick a theme for his scrapbook and bring in photos and mementos.  My heart cracked open going through the two years of memories from our sabbatical in Ithaca.  It was easy to see what he cherished:  outdoor adventures with his brother, waterfalls, snow, our big yard full of deer, time on Cornell campus, and playing with Huck.

“My hiking stick can’t fit in there, Mom!”  He made jokes as we filled the Ziploc.

When I picked him up yesterday after the much-anticipated event, he was beaming and proud and held in his arms a keepsake that truly was priceless.