Lessons of the Claw

My six year old son, Jack, lost his wallet, and has been experiencing a cash shortage until this week when he got a lucky break.  He grinned to show me his latest tooth casualty and confidently placed the tooth under his pillow to await his coming good fortune.  Upon being rewarded with 4 shiny quarters, he asked, “Mom, can we go to Kroger and put these in the Claw so I can get the Penguin?”  I explained the nature of these games – many will enter and few will win, etc, but he was undeterred, so off we went to sacrifice his coin to the Claw.  This would be a good lesson.

It took 6 seconds for Jack to lose his money.  His face fell.  It wasn’t fair.  He complained that the Claw was rickety and old.  He had placed it perfectly, and it hadn’t grabbed the penguin.  He felt ripped off.  I was satisfied.  He’d make a better choice next time.  But as we left the store, tears forming, he said in a steely voice, “if only I could find my wallet.”

The next morning, Jack tumbled on to my bed, poking my shoulder to wake me up.  “Mom.  I know how to beat the Claw.  Can we go back and try one more time?”  It was Sunday and we were on our way to church.  Dismay registered on his face as I explained we were not going back.  During the service, I thought about how I hated those stupid games – at fairs, carnivals, lotteries.   I’m teaching my kids to work hard, and pay for what they want.  But I was impressed with his determination, and I realized that what Jack really wanted was to win.  I decided to help him.

We returned to the Claw, and I bought an overpriced root beer at the checkout just to get change in the form of a roll of quarters.  The cashier messed up the transaction, so then I bought some overpriced Tic Tacs.  Winning; Lesson #1:  Obstacles arise and money must be spent!

We started feeding the Claw and Jack tried to snag Penguin.  After each attempt he’d look at me to see if that was his last chance.  “Don’t worry about it, Buddy, keep trying.”   I dropped in more coins.  At one point, Jack paused and squeezed his eyes shut.  The bargaining prayer!  Lesson #2 – Take God as your Business Partner!

We recognized that another obstacle was Hello Kitty.  Her giant head was leaning against Penguin, hindering our heist.  We decided to remove her.  It only took 2 tries and her sorry little bottom was in our basket.  (Well, we wouldn’t go home empty handed.)  Lesson #3:  Shoot for the moon, and you’ll land among the stars. 

But Kitty was not our goal.  We wanted Penguin.

We burned through quarters until 2 were left, and called a timeout.  I told Jack he could keep the money, or try one last time.  He eyed a vending machine that gave out little football helmets.  “Can I buy one of those?”  I nodded OK.   So, we left the store with Hello Kitty, a root beer, some Tic Tacs, and a tiny replica of a Jets football helmet.  He was happy.  Lesson #4:  Que the Gambler.  Know your investment limit, and know when to walk away.

Jack climbed into the car and said sincerely, “Mom, thank you for letting me go back and try to win at the Claw.” He patted that ridiculous Hello Kitty head and sighed thoughtfully, “I am going to give this to Tiffany.”  (He really likes Tiffany)  I smiled.  Lesson #5.  Leverage what you have.  Rock what ya got, Tiger.  That's a win.