102 True Stories to Teach Children How to Be Good People

Author: Zuo Xiaomei / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: Mom lowered her head again and calculated for a moment, finally smiling, "I think we should have enough now." Every Saturday night, our whole family would gather around the dinner table, watching Mom allocate Dad's meager weekly salary. The money was divided into several parts and placed on the table. "This is for rent," Mom said. "This is for the grocery store." "My shoes are so worn out with patches that they can't be patched anymore. Can I buy a new pair?" someone among the children asked. Mom thought for a moment and took out three silver coins. "It's time to buy pencils this week," another said. So Mom frowned again and took out a five-cent coin. The pile of money always seemed to get smaller and smaller, and finally, Dad said, "Is there nothing left?" Mom nodded as she put the money away in the cabinet, saying, "I think this should be enough to cover next week's expenses, and we don't need to touch the savings." Everyone couldn't help but sigh with relief with great happiness. The moment we thought of Mom's savings in the bank, we felt a warm and secure sense of pride. When the whole family faced difficulties, it gave us the motivation and courage to strive.
Laird wanted to study at a business school, and everyone agreed. We quickly gathered around the table again. Mom took out a small red wooden box and placed it on the table—it was the little savings of our family, which Mom would open in case of emergencies. I remember in the past, when Dad was sick and needed medicine, and when John got hepatitis and needed a doctor, the money from the box was used to help us out. Although we had a large savings in the bank, we had never touched it.
Laird had already listed a complete list of all the expenses he needed for business school. This time, Mom poured out all the money from the small box and counted it coin by coin, but it still wasn't enough. Mom frowned again, "Should we use the bank savings?" The whole family anxiously thought of solutions.
"I can go to Aunt Etty's house to babysit for her, so I can earn some money," Kelly said first. "I'll work at Derun's store," Harry added. Mom looked approvingly at the two of them and quickly calculated, "But it's still a bit short." Everyone fell silent. Suddenly, I remembered that I had once helped Mr. Smith at the gas station by washing his car, and he even praised me for being capable. So I quickly said, "I can go see Mr. Smith and hope he can give me a job like washing cars, so I can earn a lot of money."
Mom lowered her head again and calculated for a moment, finally smiling, "I think we should have enough now." The whole family avoided using the savings again. It was wonderful; we almost wanted to cheer.
Days passed like this, and before we knew it, we all started working, got married, and Dad seemed shorter, and Mom's hair had turned white. We bought the house we live in now, and life became more comfortable. But we never touched Mom's savings.
A few days ago, I received the royalty for an article I published. I gave it to Mom and asked her to add it to the savings in the bank. Mom paused what she was doing, looked at me, and smiled, "What savings? I've never even stepped inside a bank in my life!"
How clever a mother she was! With a kind lie, she warmed her children's hearts, giving them the courage and confidence to overcome difficulties and teaching them to fly independently in the sky of the future!
P3-4