birthday

If a kid comes up to me and tells me that today is his or her birthday, I try to act like I don't believe them and argue with them by asking them what the date is and how old they are turning and saying things like, "Prove it! I know it's not really your birthday." Finally I will say, "I know how to find out if it really is your birthday." At that point I magicly pull a quarter out of their ear and put on my best surprised face and say, "Wow, it really is your birthday!" We used to have a Coke machine on campus that only charged seventy-five cents for a soda so I usually had a quarter in my pocket. Now the price is a dollar, so I have to remember to carry a few quarters in my pocket when I leave the house.

You might say that all those quarters add up, but when I get a Kinder kid who really believes that the quarter came out of his ear, it makes it all worth the price.