how to cure tears with a panda and a frisbee

My Princess adores pandas. They make her voice go long and squeaky, like it's been drawn through a mincer, and she asked Daddy to bring her one from China on his next trip.

This morning, we got up to tears. She doesn't want to go to school (this has been happening all week), her shoes were too small, she didn't want to wear Olympic Stuff for Dress-Up Day, her leg hurt.

She cried on the way to school, and I felt like a heel for making her go.

On our way into class, we spotted a panda, lying on the wet grass. It looks like it's come off a keyring or a necklace. The Princess picked it up, and I suggested we take it to the office and hand it in. She agreed right away.
"Think how sad the person who lost it might be feeling!"

She handed it over to the secretary, and told how the story, and how she really loves pandas, and if no-one claims it, maybe she could get to keep it?

The secretary was tickled pink that she handed it in instead of keeping it, and made a good deal of fuss about how honest my Princess is, and how we love honest students at our school, and then one of the teachers gave her a pop-up frisbee.
AND she got her name written on the piece of paper that the panda is taped to.

On the way to class, we talked about how good it is to be honest, that you don't always get a reward but sometimes you just get a good feeling in your heart for doing the right thing (can't have her thinking she'll get a frisbee every time).

Her tears were long gone. I left her in the classroom happily telling everyone about her frisbee.
Hooray for pandas! and frisbees. And teachers and secretaries. And Princesses. Of course.