the money jar
I love when traditions are passed down from one generation to the next. When my father was a boy, he had a wonderful grandmother who was always making life a little more exciting. She kept a money jar at her home, and when the grandkids would come over, they each got to reach one hand in and grab all the money they could. Whatever you could pull out of the jar in one handful, you got to keep.
My dad remembers how exciting it was to see all that money in your fist, and my mom remembers my oldest brother getting to put his little hand in the money jar when he was a boy. (Great Grandma Hellewell passed away before I got the chance.)
My parents are now carrying on the tradition with a money jar of their own. My mom says it's easy to keep the jar filled, she and my dad just dump their spare change in (and grandchildren have little hands). It sits on the window sill, and my kids like to stare at all that money that might soon be theirs. On the last day of our trip, I let them reach their hand in and they each take a big handful. We dump their haul into plastic bags which they carry around as if it was pure gold.
Until next time, money jar!
04.22.2011
Reader Comments (27)
i LOVE this idea :o))
xo.
I LOVE this! What a sweet tradition to carry on and how fun! That sounds like such an amazing proposition as a child.
what a fantastic idea. love it.
Who wouldn't love this!! What a fabulous idea!! Thanks for sharing.
Totally awesome. Zack gets Easter eggs with coins in them -- he LOVES it.
what a wonderful idea!
thankfully my era of being a grandparent is a little ways away, but i love this idea! So great!
What a fun memory and tradition. It is such a fantastic idea!
What a cute idea! Isn't it interesting how the smallest things made such a huge impact on us as little kids? Wonderful.
What a lovely tradition. I can just imagine the delight of a child reaching in and grabbing a fistful of coins.
This is such a special idea! So simple, but so awe inspiring!
Hmmm... imagine if you paid a weekly allowance to each child this way...
I love this! They will always remember those special memories. I wish we had a money jar:)
My father in law does this. It's so cute. He tells the kids it's time to get their treasure before they go home.
I love this idea! My grandpa has always had a money jar - for as long as I can remember. I used to get money out of there every time we stopped by their house! It made for lots of free laundry in college since I sifted out all of the quarters. Thanks for posting this!
what a simple and fun tradition! my nephew is always overjoyed when he has a quarter so i can only imagine the excitement of a whole handful of coins!
wow, gives whole new meaning to the money jar we keep here... i think i'll bring it up to my nieces and see how far we get... such a cute idea!
Congratulations! I just got my June MSLiving in the mail and was flipping through over lunch and saw your family's reunion feature! I haven't read it yet but it looks gorgeous! You and your family must be so proud. Ok, off to pull my 2 boys away from the hose....
This is wonderful tradition :) I think I will become its next follower
so fun and, yes, exciting! i want to try! ;-)