Day "I lost track of all the numbers because it's been so long" of the PIGGY FLU continues. Emma's fever finally broke, after 7 days, but she's left with a horrific cough and sounds like she's about to hack up a lung. Mackenzie fell Thursday and has the same cough. I've been told that the cough lasts at least a month. WONDERFUL.
Riley did a favor for Gabriel. I don't remember what the favor was, but, as it was shortly after his birthday and he was flush with money - he gave her $5. She was IN HEAVEN. She had big plans for what to buy - a doll, a new iPod, a phone, a bunch of candy. She toyed with a trip to McDonald's and maybe one to Sonic for a slushie. My husband took Gabriel to the toy store to spend his birthday gift certificates on Legos and a Nerf pop gun - because,really, the 73 fake guns that he already has are not sufficient for his fun - and when they arrived home, Riley pouted and cried because SHE hadn't been able to go to the toy store - that Nirvana of the under 10 set.
After hearing her cry for a while, I offered to take her to the dollar store that evening while a couple of the other kids were at Thai boxing class across the street. She was delighted and grabbed her little change purse and off we went.
Oh, the wonder of the dollar store.
She knew that she wanted one thing at least. A wig. A wig of her very own, she said, for she wanted to have long blond curly hair. We entered the store and she was immediately drawn to the glow in the dark butterfly mask. Ok. One dollar down, three to go. (I made her leave money for tax, and to have some change to put in the Pennies for the Poor jar in her classroom.
I offered coloring books or a new notebook, for the child dearly loves to color and draw and is only really quiet in the van if she has either of those - but she wasn't interested. She found the toy row almost immediately, and then the fun began. I showed her several items - a cube of princess sticky notes, a fairy wand, a bubble container. She turned those down, and spotted a favorite draw down at the end of the row. The Made in China vinyl baby doll, the one that smells of plastic and has a loose, wobbly head and the eyes of a possessed demon. She grabbed one immediately, decided against the polka dots that graced her outfit, and selected a blue. Blue went back and then came yellow. No, purple, no, pink - until she settled on the purple. Any mommy worth her salt must have a bottle of fake juice or milk, and so she selected that. Three dollars down, one to go. What would be the last item? She entertained the thought of a new outfit for her new charge, but a reminder of the piles of baby clothes at home grounded her.
I stood back and watched her. It was her money and it was really interesting watching her make her selections. Especially as we got to the last dollar. She was cute, my little one, as she selected and discarded item after item. The chalk was weighed and found lacking. Same verdict for the fairy wand, but then she discovered her first love - a wig. It wasn't a blond wig, but a pink one, and and she begged and pleaded. I grabbed the wig and noticed as I did that several pink strands fell out, and as she put in on, several more departed. I knew, realistically, that this beloved request wasn't going to make it out of the car without losing at least half of the hair, and I pointed that out to her. She wasn't happy.
But, ultimately, the wig stayed right where it was, and she decided that she'd be much happier with a set of green pom poms. After all, they are multi purpose.
lol- too cute. Let me watn you the nerf gun will become the bane of your existence. Those durn orange bullets are stuck in all the light fixtures in my house.
Posted by: amie | October 31, 2009 at 10:27 AM
ha - too cute! I love watching my kids make their dollar store selections too. And how they agonize over what to spend their few dollars on.
At Christmas we would give them each $2 - one to spend on mommy and one to spend on daddy to see what they would pick out for us. And they would put a lot of thought into that $1 gift. And it always gave us such pleasure and amusement. Best dollars we ever spent!
Posted by: The Only Girl | October 31, 2009 at 10:44 AM
Good choice, love the pom poms!
Posted by: Debby Pucci | October 31, 2009 at 12:11 PM
New toy at the bane of my existence is those Tech Deck things. Finger skateboards???? WTF??? You know that moments after you get home you will inevitably lose a screw. And they don't sell replacement parts so you have to a new deck to replace the one. I suppose after you lose and replace enough decks you'll eventually have enough spare parts to put the original one together again.
Posted by: amy | October 31, 2009 at 01:21 PM
Great picture and you have a very smart little girl! Everyone have a fun and safe Halloween!
Posted by: maggie | October 31, 2009 at 06:03 PM
She looks so content! What a great mom you are.
Posted by: Stephanie c. | October 31, 2009 at 11:33 PM
Too funny! The dollar store is so great.
Posted by: Young Wife | November 01, 2009 at 08:47 AM
How fun to watch her discover so many treasures. I think she made a good choice with the pom poms.
Hope your family is feeling better soon. :(
Posted by: Stimey | November 01, 2009 at 10:05 AM
I think that's a great pix. She can retrieve the pom-pom on St. Patrick's Day and pose as a leprechaun!
Posted by: Pat | November 02, 2009 at 09:33 AM