Ella and I went over to the printer’s yesterday and dropped off an order. It was going to take an hour before we could pick it up again and so I said “Let’s go over to Big Lots accross the street and see if we can get a toy or something.” Ella of course thought that was a grand idea. We walked in and were poked in the face with Easter, we walked fast past the peeps and chocolate bunnies as Ella proclaimed “I’m gonna tell the Easter Bunny I want pink candy!” We wandered through gardening and zigzagged through left over St. Patrick’s Day sparkles finally landing in toys.
The first isle filled with plastic primary colors meant for outdoors beckoned. We strolled on by as Ella said “Nah, I already have a bucket, and I already have a base and ball and I already have a swimmy pool and a hula-hoop.” The next isle was what Ella calls boy’s toys mostly camouflage and squirt guns she wasn’t interested at all. The next isle was “for babies” so we barely even looked in the direction of the push cars and rattles.
Finally the pink isle, I was sure we’d find something pink or fuzzy or both to take home with us. Ella said “Nah, I already have babies and mermaids at my house… and I already have lots of ponies and the Easter bunny will bring me a dress up pony.” As I was rapidly approaching the end of aisle and we still hadn’t found a toy we didn’t already have some form of already, her diatribe continued “I already have a phone, and I already have a sparkly tutu, and I already have a book and a tea set and a pink chair.” Soon, we had walked the gauntlet of pink and not put a thing in the cart. Ella said to me “I already have a lot of toys Mom” and with that we left and got French fries while we waited for our print job.
4 comments:
I gonna have to go with both on this one.
Hmm, Tatertot has seen Ella's room, so her comment is probably more informative.
Here is my opinion though: I think perhaps you are raising a grateful, abundant child, who doesn't feel like she needs to have everything, because she already acknowledges she does!
ditto tot!
a good balance it seems.
good fortune and good sense.
I'm going to have to mirror jo's comment here. The fact that she said "I already have a lot of toys Mom" and didn't ask for something simply because she wanted ANYTHING to me speaks volumes.
I always say to my kids (and the ones I use to nanny) "There's a difference between being spoiled and spoiled rotten. Once your child move from the first into the second you end being both." A year ago we bought my eldest a Nintendo DS as a thank you for watching his brother last summer during the days I was staying at my dad's to take care of him after his lung surgery. Two days later we heard him say on the phone how he wished it was a PSP instead and how it sucked that he couldn't do something or another on it. Monkey and I now have a DS and Lou has neither. ;)
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