Boy, 4, Uses His Jar Of Pennies To Treat Divorced Mum To Valentine’s Day Meal

Who says Valentine’s Day isn’t really about love?

Try telling that to the four-year-old boy who used his jar of pennies to take his recently divorced mother out for dinner at Pizza Express on February 14.

Emma Schofield, 32, from Newton Abbot, Devon, said she had been dreading Valentine’s Day this year as she recently separated from her husband of six-and-a-half years.

But she was moved to tears when her son Max pulled out all the stops to cheer her up at the weekend.

First, he slipped a Valentine’s Day card into her shopping basket while they were in a supermarket, along with a teddy bear in a gift bag.

Then on Sunday, Valentine’s Day itself, he asked if he could treat her to dinner in Pizza Express in Torquay and offered to pay for the meal with a jar of pennies he had been saving up for months.

Staff gave Ms Schofield and Max the meal for free when they realised what was going on.

And when they returned home, there was a heart-shaped box of chocolate on the doorstep for Ms Schofield from her son.

“All of this Valentine’s Day stuff is so in your face and my husband and I split up a few months ago,” said Ms Schofield, a secretary at a primary school.

“Max and I were speaking about it and he said, ‘Is your boyfriend going to take you out?’ I said, 'I haven’t got a boyfriend.’

“He must have picked up on it because he asked me if he could take me out for dinner at Pizza Express on Valentine’s Day.

“We had this wonderful meal and Max’s manners were impeccable. He was ordering things and being so polite.

“At the end, I think because he knows that mummy doesn’t have many pennies at the moment, he offered to pay for it with the pocket money he has saved.

“When we went to pay, with my debit card slipped inside his wallet, the waitress came over with tears in her eyes and then I started crying.

“She said, 'We’ve got the bill because of what your son has done today.’ We were blubbering messes.”

Ms Schofield said she was left “crying with happiness” at Max’s thoughtfulness.

“He could tell he made me happy. It was the most beautiful day ever. It was wonderful,” she said.

Julie Clifford, manager of Pizza Express in Torquay, said: “I’m absolutely delighted that we were able to help Max treat his mum on Valentine’s Day.

“He clearly wanted to create a special moment for her and I’m only too glad that we could assist.”

(Pictures: SWNS)