Heidi Anne's First BAD and then Good Bank Adventure

My Aunt Deb sent Heidi Anne a check for her birthday. She was so excited to have money like a grown up. I realized that this was the first birthday check she would really remember and I wanted to make it as fun and "Big Girl" as possible. On our way to the bank I asked her what she wanted to get with her birthday money. The first thing she said was "I want to get you some of your medicine so you will feel better." --Sweet angel.

I suggested maybe some clothes, Heidi Anne has grown yet another inch in these last 2 weeks. She is now 43 inches tall and her shoes are suddenly size 11. She went from a size 4T and size 8 shoe to size 6/7 and size 11 shoe in 6 weeks. She just bypassed a whole size! (I have stretched my up-cycle abilities to the limit, so any suggestions would be great!). Anyways, back to the main story! 

Heidi Anne decided she would like new ballet shoes that fit her and maybe some paint supplies or play-dough. All the way to the bank Heidi Anne is getting excited to buy her own ballet shoes with her own money. She talks about how she must be getting to be a real big girl. When we get to the bank Heidi Anne proudly gives the teller her check. The teller looks at the check and said "We can't cash this check, it's not in blue or black ink." I asked her if she was serious. She said she was. I then asked to speak with her manager. 

So the "manager" comes over, I tell her what the issue is, how the teller won't accept the check. She then says, "Hold on, let me verify with the manager." Then another teller reminds her she IS the manager. The three of them giggle..YES GIGGLED!! After she catches her breath, the "manager" says "That's right! I forgot! Giggles some more!  When she finally caught her breath she said some very assuring words, (and I quote) "Sorry, today is my first day as the manager!"  YIKES!!

The "manager" tells Heidi Anne that it's her Aunt's fault that she can't cash the check, that she should shred it, and demand a new one. --Word for word! Heidi Anne starts getting teary eyed, thinking they are going to take her money away. I took the check back, told them how insane, ungrateful, and plan rude their "advice" was, then stormed out of there. Honestly, who on Earth would really do that? 

We get into the car and poor Heidi Anne has little tears rolling down her cheeks. She sadly said "I don't really need new ballet shoes." Yeah, my heart broke for her. I found a different branch location and explained that this was her first experience with a bank my daughter has had and how traumatic it's been already. (I kept thinking of that scene in Mary Poppins where the little boy screams about the bank not giving him his money). 

This teller was so sweet! She treated Heidi Anne like a serious customer. She made a big deal about how grown up she is to get her own money from the bank. She then gave her money in 
$1 and $5 dollar bills. You could tell she had worked with kids before, because Heidi Anne's eyes got so big when she would count each dollar bill, one by one. Heidi Anne exclaimed "Momma!! Momma! I got so much money!!"  The sweet teller told her what a rich little girl she was. Then the teller gave Heidi Anne an envelop to hold "All of her money, since that's a lot of money for such a big girl!"

As I left the bank, Heidi Anne was humming and smiling. I then had the "Let's go fly a kite!" song stuck in my head. She was so proud of herself when she bought her ballet shoes with her very own money.