Five Dollar Bill

A woman came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find her 5-year old son waiting for her at

the door. Son: “Mommy, may I ask you a question?” Mom: “Yeah sure, what it is?” replied the

woman. Son: “Mommy, how much do you make an hour?” Mom: “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?” Mom: “If you must know, I make $20 an hour.” Son: “Oh,” the

little boy replied, with his head down. Son: “Mommy, 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 everyday 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

Mommy, 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 Mommy!” he

yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled-up bills. The woman saw that the

boy 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. “Mommy, 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.