I am two for two with kids who cannot possibly be expected to be in possession of money for more than a day. I mean, wow. There's the concept of cash burning a hole in your pocket and there is whatever it is that Mila and Alexis have. It's a whole other level of urgency to spend every time they have a few pennies.
Which, Mila had pennies. She had a lot of them. They came for her birthday from all of her grandparents and OMG I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO GLAD SHE RUSHES TO SPEND CASH.
There was a 30-second window when Mila remembered that she wanted to buy a bunny, but then she forgot that she was focused on one big purchase and SHUCKS. She spent all of her money on smaller things that don't eat and poop. How very disappointing!
I helped her forget. Hate me for it all you want, but there's not a bunny living in my house, so I'm still the winner. I'm okay with being a hated winner.
All it took to distract Miss Mila was for me to head straight to a mall after swapping her checks for cash. Which, a mall! We can do that safely now! HUZZAH! (FWIW, we're still on Team Masks because Mila can't be vaccinated, so we'll hold out until we're all the way there. Soon, I hope!) We wandered to a mall and I let Mila walk past Build-A-Bear. I didn't even throw confetti or point out fake magical unicorns flying near the ceiling so she wouldn't notice it. Nope, I let her make eye contact with the store.
Mila was all, "I have money so can I go to Build-A-Bear" and I was all, "You aren't going to have money once you've set foot in there," and she was all, "That's okay."
So, okay! In we went.
And OMG is that child so enchanted by the idea of spending her own money. She gleefully picked out a bear, added some sound to it (::shakes angry fist at Build-A-Bear::), made it stink pretty, and then dressed it in the most ridiculous outfit ever. She managed to spend half her money on a dumb bear, but WOW did the whole "complete control of her destiny" thing bring her joy.
I might have to give her money more often just so I can soak up that gleeful independence.
The Build-A-Bear bad decision (I mean, really, that's a hell of a way to waste $50, but it was her money, so...), Mila made one more bad decision. She marched her little butt into Claire's and picked out "fake glasses." Apparently she feels left out in that she's the only person in this house who doesn't ever wear them, so she fixed that right away. She has worn said silly glasses nearly every waking moment since.
Such a bad choice. Honestly, she's going to eventually end up needing glasses. It's a genetic guarantee. I guess she didn't want to wait, though, so whatever.
Such a bad choice, but not a pet bunny, so BEST CHOICES EVERRRRRR.