Shopping Cards

Here in Oklahoma, as well I'm sure in other areas, we have gas pumps at our Walmart. They typically have the cheapest gasoline around. But there's even more incentive to purchase your gasoline at Walmart.

You see, if you go inside and put some money on one of these:

Then you get three cents off per gallon. I know three cents doesn't sound like much but lately . . . it adds up!

Anyway, we get these gasoline cards and sometimes I reuse a card but more often than not I'm in a hurry. I run into the store, purchase a card and head for the gas pumps. I empty the card at the pump and toss it in my purse.

What I'm left with is this:

A stack of empty gift cards in a pocket of my purse.

When I notice this pile of cards, do I throw them away? No way! Some of them are really cute! Of course that's not why I don't throw them away. I keep them because occasionally there are times when you're stuck somewhere boring with a four year old.


Four year olds like to play with things. They also have good imaginations. You see, a stack of cards like this could also be a . . .

A pretend deck of cards. Or . . .

Supplies to build cute little buildings. Or . . .

They can fight each other! (That's a poplular one among the boys.)

See? A four year old can do a lot with leftover shopping cards.

They're not the best toy on the block but they do well in a pinch. I'll keep that stack of cards in my purse.