Twenty Dollars

D. E. Larsen, DVM

Parenting is one of those skills learned by trial and error. If you are lucky enough to have role models to pattern trials after, there may be fewer errors. And then, just to complicate the learning process, one usually has a spouse, which complicates decision-making. They often have a different experience base that makes them think they know more than you.

For Sandy and me, things were pretty simple. That is the way it is when you have good kids and good role models. We also agreed most of the time. The only real difference was that I believed that you helped the kids who needed help, and Sandy felt strongly that everything had to be balanced between the kids.

I often silently watched her balance the spending at Christmas. Each gift list had to match, almost to the penny. Everything would be matched until one total had $2.00 more than the others. Then the search would be for three other $2.00 gifts. But you could bet that one of those was $2.50. And it would go on and on, right up to Christmas Eve.

We tried to keep track of the kids’ classroom activities. Sandy was instrumental in selecting teachers. She wanted our kids in the best classrooms, and she was pretty blunt with the principals. I probably helped that I was on the school district’s budget committee and later on the school board.

Parent-teacher conferences were a little boring. One of Brenda’s teachers commented once that she wished the parents who needed to hear from her would attend the conferences like we did. And we really didn’t have to attend, because it was always the same. The kid is doing great.

It wouldn’t have taken much for me to skip a conference or two, but that wouldn’t fly in our house. So it was a little shocking when we sat down with Mr. Looney, Dee’s second-grade teacher.

“I have a little concern with Dee’s reading,” Mr. Looney said.

“A little concern?” I replied, almost in shock. “What kind of concern are you talking about?”

“I have the class divided into three reading groups,” Mr. Looney explained. “Dee is in the top group, but she is at the bottom of that group. I am thinking we should move her into the middle group. What do you think about that idea?”

Sandy and I exchanged glances. We were a little new to this, but we had not had a kid in the middle group of anything.

“So, how do you measure the standings in the group?” I asked. “Is it a competitive thing, or what?”

“I measure the workbook scores and how they progress through the book,” Mr. Looney said. “I really don’t try to make it competitive. Most kids do well working at their own speed.”

“Well, we Larsens are not afraid of a little competition,” I said. “Let me see if I can build a fire under Dee before you move her. It might take a week or two, so talk to me before you make a move. Does that sound okay?”

“Sure, we have most of the year in front of us,” Mr. Looney said. “I will give you a call in about three weeks.”

“Other than her reading, she is doing okay, I assume?” I said.

“Yes, she is a pleasure to have in the class,” Mr. Looney said.

Sandy grabbed my arm as we headed down the hall toward Amy’s third-grade classroom.

“What do you have in mind when you talk about building a fire under Dee?” Sandy asked.

“I think this ranking system sounds a little passive,” I said. “Dee is competitive by nature. We just need to make the thing more competitive without interfering with Mr. Looney’s system. I’ll think on it a bit.”

***

The following evening, I sat down with Dee.

“Mr. Looney said he was thinking about moving you into the middle reading group,” I said. “What would you think about that?”

“I wouldn’t have to listen to Bobby anymore,” Dee said.

“Who is Bobby?” I asked.

“He thinks he is so smart because he is at the top of the group,” Dee said.

“I have a deal for you,” I said. “You get ahead of Bobby in your reading group, and get to the top of the group, and I will give you twenty dollars. Do you think you can do that?”

“It’s pretty easy reading,” Dee said. “I just don’t like to listen to Bobby. I can get to the top pretty easily. And twenty dollars is a lot of money.”

“Yes, it is. But here is the rest of the deal,” I said. “You can’t tell anyone. Not Mr. Looney and none of the kids in the class. If you tell anyone, the deal is off.”

Dee left for school in the morning with a new resolve. Then I had to deal with Sandy.

“Don’t you think it will be a little hard for her not tell anyone?” Sandy asked. “I mean, most kids can’t keep a secret.”

“It will be good practice for her,” I said. “She might need a security clearance someday. So, how much do you know about what I did in the Army?”

“Not much, other than drinking a lot of beer,” Sandy said. “And what about the other kids. How are you going to even things up.”

“The other kids aren’t about to get shuffled to the middle of the class,” I said. “This is just between Dee and me. If I match it with the other kids for doing nothing, it will distract from the win for Dee.”

“What if she can’t do it?” Sandy said. “Maybe she needs some help.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” I said. “Remember, she’s a Larsen; she will be able to do it.”

***

Mr. Looney called me at the clinic a few weeks later.

“I don’t know what you did, but Dee is doing really well in her reading,” Mr. Looney said. “She is moving up in the group and keeping a close eye on where she stands. I will definitely keep her in the top group.”

And it seemed like no time before Dee came home and reported that she was at the top of her reading group.

“Bobby doesn’t brag so much anymore,” Dee said.

“Before I pay you, I will speak with Mr. Looney, just to make sure where you stand in the class,” I said.

I stopped by the school during a break the next day. Mr. Looney was glad to speak with me.

“I hear you are twenty dollars poorer,” Mr. Looney said. “When Dee checked the last time, and I told her that she was at the top of the class, she said, ‘Ha, now I get twenty bucks.’ I’m not sure I have seen that before, but with her, it has completely changed her character in the classroom.”

I paid Dee her twenty dollars, and she never looked back. She continued to excel in the classroom and in the sports arena.

Many years later, I missed my bet. When we attended her PhD dissertation defense at the University of California, San Diego. I struggled to follow the topic. It was on the arborization of neurons in the developing brain.

I should have given her another twenty-dollar bill. 

Photo Credit: YM on Unsplash.com.

Post Script: Twenty dollars in 1980 is about eighty dollars in 2025 dollars.