Forever Ruined?

Yesterday Matilda got three more Valentine cards in the mail. She is always thrilled to get mail, and immediately plopped herself down in the living room to set about opening them. As she got the first one open, M discovered a crisp dollar bill in there, from her great grandparents. She was stunned by the find and came running to me waiving the bill and yelling, "That's money! That's money!" It felt as if she was checking whether she needed to turn over her find to me, since she so rarely gets her hands on any cash. After I explained it was hers, she spent several minutes discussing how she wanted to take it to the grocery store & give it to Criseida, her favorite cashier. When pressed, she couldn't come up with anything she wanted to buy, she only knew she wanted to take it to the grocery store. 

After a bit she remembered the other 2 cards and tore into them as well. It was amazing to witness how just one instance of finding money changed her whole outlook on opening cards; she ripped each one open, did a quick check for cash, and then moved on to the next. I didn't realize the greed could start so young! Although to be completely fair, the third card from another set of great grandparents had some sticker sheets in the card and that was a very close rival to the money. She dropped the cash and spent several minutes stickering before she returned to carting around her now-wadded up dollar bill.