It’s no secret that Kayden is a pretty awesome 2 year old. She is GREAT with Kloey – she shares her toys, brings Kloey her own toys, brings me diapers/wipes, and will do anything I ask to help me with her little sister. Kayden doesn’t get mad when I tell her I can’t play hopscotch because I am holding Kloey. She doesn’t get frustrated when I tell her she has to be quiet while her sister naps. She has never laid a mean-spirited hand on her attention-soaking little sister. In addition to all of this, Kayden has been my side kick while running errands. I can (and have MANY times!) literally walk her up and down every isle in Toys R Us looking for gifts for other children without her once asking me to buy her something. I can mosey around Target up and down toy isles, food isles, and in and out of the clothes section without her ever asking me to buy her something. I often wonder what is wrong with this kid?! So yesterday I was taking her to Toys R Us to buy Kloey some food and I told her on our way in that I wanted to buy her a prize for being awesome. My intention was to get her a little something – under $12. She had so much fun walking up and down the isles saying, “How about this one?” And, like any child, she pointed to the biggest, brightest toy in the isle. For each item she pointed out, I would nicely say that it was too big or too expensive. She would smile and say, “Let’s keep looking!” She loved going to the art sections, stuffed animal sections, boy toys, barbies, kitchen stuff, baby stuff, and every other corner in the store. Well, she finally found a baby up high on a shelf that was put in a box with other little babies. The baby was $8. The baby had a little scuff on her head and a little dirt on her shirt. I tried to redirect her to a bigger dolly in a box with accessories. She appeased me and went to look at the nicer doll, but found her way back to the original doll she had chosen. As I turned around to put my doll back, she took the liberty of finding a baby carrier ($15!) that she had to have to carry her new dolly in. Reminding myself of the reason I was buying her this ‘prize’, I decided to splurge and spend $22 ($10 over budget) to show my darling 2 year old that I am proud of her. The whole way home we talked about why she got a prize that day and that it was a special thing – NOT to be expected every time we go to the toy store! We’ll see how that goes!!
