Pearls

The first night we got to Disneyworld, we decided to go to downtown Disney, which is mostly shops with varying themes, all which are destined to separate the tourist from his money. My dear boy J was swayed by many a store or booth, 2 catching his eyes the most. The first was the Lego shop. In fact, we were visiting downtown to specifically go to this shop; since when I was making the vacation plans I shot down the idea of going to Legoland in CA and substituted Disneyworld with the promise of the Lego store visit.
Being that this was the first day of vacation, we warned J not to spend all his money, since we could always come back another day. Plus, he might see something in one of the other parks that he could only get at Disneyworld, so he should save his money "just in case". Well, he did get a limited edition Lego toy that we have never seen in the stores around here, but he also wanted to go to another shop - the pearl shop. He insists that we return to it, that it has to be today, that we can not wait another day, risking not coming back.
There is a reason for this: on Mother's Day he wanted to give me a single pearl necklace, but due to circumstances beyond his control, he was unable to do this. So, when we passed the booth that had people shucking oysters to look for a pearl, he was intrigued. When I told him that they could set the pearl into a piece of jewelry, his eyes lit up. He insisted that we stop back at this booth so that he could get a pearl - he "just had to do it". I explained to him that this would come out of his souvenir money, but he was OK with that, he wanted to get me my pearl necklace.
Who am I to argue with the sweet thoughts of my son - I planned on letting him "buy" me the pearl and setting, but not actually take it out of his trip money.
So, we go through the whole process of picking an oyster, having the women give the story behind how the pearl is formed, picking the pearl out of the meat, cleaning it in salt, measuring it...now it is time to pick a setting for it. I look at J and ask him if he wants to put it in a necklace setting. He looks at me while rolling the pearl in his hand, asking if he has to or if he can keep it separate.

"Sure you can keep it separate, but I thought you wanted to make a necklace with it?" I say.
Looking at me with his sweet, open face, he says, "Hmm, I think I want to think about it, I might want to keep the pearl for myself."

Hmmprh...I guess little boys can't stay sweet for too long at a time...you better believe that money came out of his vacation spending money!