A woman came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find her 5-year old son waiting for her just inside the door.
SON: 'Mummy, may I ask you a question?'
MUM: 'Yeah sure, what it is?' replied the woman.
SON: 'Mummy, how much do you make an hour?'
MUM: 'That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?' the woman said angrily.
SON: 'I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?'
MUM: 'If you must know, I make $20 an hour.'
SON: 'Oh,' the little boy replied, with his head down.
SON: "Mummy, may I please borrow $5?"
The mother was furious, 'If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you are being so selfish. I don't work hard every day for such childish frivolities.'
The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door..
The woman sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions.
How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?
After about an hour or so, the woman had calmed down and started to think:
Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $5 and he really didn't ask for money very often. The woman went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door.
'Are you asleep, son?'
She asked.
'No Mummy, I'm awake,' replied the boy.
'I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier' said the woman. 'It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the $5 you asked for.'
The little boy sat straight up, smiling. 'Oh, thank you Mummy!' he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills.
The woman seeing that her son already had money, started to get angry again.
The little boy slowly counted out his money and then looked up at his mother.
'Why do you want more money if you already have some?'
the mother grumbled.
'Because I didn't have enough, but now I do,' the little boy replied.
'Mummy, I have $20 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you.'
The mother was crushed. She put her arms around her little son and she begged for his forgiveness.
It's just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life.
We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts. Do remember to share that $20 worth of your time with someone you love.
If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of hours. But the family & friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives
That was really thought provoking an I could definitely relate, Today is the last day of my vacation I took my mum daughter and grandmother to ocean city, I work an average of forty sometimes more hours each week I have really been missing my family my husband couldn't take his vacation but we only live once and when we are gone all that is left is memories and perhaps a small inheritance. Money can always be earned fairly easily but my family has earned more time than I make for them. As a career mama I realize my loved ones are first priority. If "time is money' this isn't entirely true because money is replaceable Time is priceless, fleeting and irreplaceable.
- MommaClark3
on Jun. 19, 2010 at 10:40 AM