Theme: Honesty

Birthday gift

Paula's birthday was coming up and she just kept imagining the gift she would get from her parents. “Maybe it’s a bicycle, a cell phone or a doll that talks...” – she thought.

When the long-awaited day arrived, Paula's mother made a delicious cake with chocolate frosting and her father decorated the entire room with balloons and a banner that said: Happy Birthday!

	The girl was very happy. But that was only until she received her gift. She got a simple doll, which was pretty, but didn't do anything much. The parents, realizing their
daughter's disappointment, explained that they were not able to spend much that month, but said that, as soon as the family's financial situation improved, they could buy something she wanted.

Paula understood but remained sad.

The next day, the girl's mother came out in a hurry, with her bag open and dropped an envelope with several banknotes inside.

Paula saw the envelope falling but didn't have time to warn her.

With that much money in her hands, Paula could only think that now she could have the gift she wanted. She then went to the neighborhood store and bought the talking doll.

The girl played a lot with the doll, but when she saw that her mother was coming, she hid it in her room.

Her mother arrived dejected, unwilling to even speak.

At night, however, Paula heard her mother telling her father that she had lost the money to pay her bills. She was nervous and even crying.

Paula then realized that she had acted very badly. She could never have used her mother's money without her knowledge. Now she had the doll, but her father was worried, and her mother was crying.

The girl felt so sorry and so bad that she started crying too.

Her parents went to her room to calm her down and she ended up telling them everything that had happened.

Paula apologized and said that she didn't even want the doll anymore, she just wanted everything to be okay.

The parents hugged their daughter and said that, although she had a wrong attitude, she was being correct and courageous now, by telling the truth. However, that wasn't enough. They needed her collaboration to solve the problem she created.

Paula thought a lot, looking for a solution and the next day she told her mother that she was going to hold a bazaar, with the toys, shoes, and clothes that she no longer wore.

She managed to organize the bazaar and sell several things to her friends at school and on the street.

To get all the money, she needed to dispose of not only used things, but the new doll as well. But she didn't care. She was very happy when she was able to give back to her mother everything she had spent.

With the money, her mother paid the bills, and the family was out of debt.

After that, Paula began to value more her parents' efforts to pay the bills and realized that more important than expensive gifts are having a clear conscience. And she also understood that honesty is always the best path.

It took a while before they were able to buy another doll, but in the end, everything ended well.

(Adapted from the children’s book “Honestidade”, by Editora Culturama.)

Translation:
Larissa Martine - larissa_am@hotmail.com

marcelapradacontato@gmail.com