It’s no secret that we’ve been pinching pennies since we’ve moved here to start a business. Pinching pennies may be putting it mildly, in fact. This hasn’t been lost on our children, who have reluctantly accepted our new reality. The older the child, the slower this acceptance has occurred. I knew that Emma (age 6) had arrived at this acceptance the other day in the car. She had slipped on a pair of tennis shoes that had lost its laces to go on a quick errand with me. As I was driving, I heard a tentative voice from the backseat. “Mom, I know that you try to not spend any money, so do you think that maybe we could hot glue these shoes so they’ll stay on my feet?” I should have felt triumphant, but I wanted to cry. On the day that Kirsten (age 13) makes a similar suggestion, my triumph will be complete. I have the feeling I’ll be waiting a long time.