My son came home after lessons almost crying. He whispered, “Mom, I lost all my money! I went to the toilet during the break, and when I came back, my pencil case was empty.” I realized that there was no point in looking for it in class. Everyone would just claim that my son had lost the money himself. And then it hit me. I said, “Let’s get creative.”
He wiped his nose with his sleeve and looked at me confused. “Creative?” he asked.
I nodded and smiled. “Yes. You know how we’ve been talking about doing a small project together this summer? How about we start early?”
He didn’t answer immediately. I could see the worry still swimming in his eyes. It wasn’t just about the money—he felt betrayed, embarrassed maybe. He had saved that small amount for weeks, doing chores and saying no to candy from the school vending machine.
“I just want it back,” he mumbled.
“I know, sweetheart. But sometimes we don’t get back what we lost. Instead, we build something better.”
