To Build a Bear, or not to build a bear, that is the question....

This past weekend,  I had to work on Saturday.  Marlina and the kids had no definite plans and that usually means trouble for me.  Sure enough, they call mid day and explain that they had to get out of the house and they are going to Academy so Luke could purchase a basketball jersey.  Well, I get home to find out that he purchased the jersey and Katie purchased a geology kit where she dissolves this brick of mud to expose the buried gems inside.  Well, she gets ripped off in the fact that this particular one only encased one ugly rock instead of the normal 8-9 crystals.  Lesson learned, I assumed.

After showing me their treasures (or lack thereof), I decide to settle down for a late afternoon nap.  After snoozing for a few, I was awakened by my little girl announcing that it was time for Dad and Kate time, bemoaning the fact that, in her opinion, it had been forever since we had spent some time just her and I.  I relented and got up.  She suggested a few places to go, and I suggested we go to Kemah in hopes that we could have a happy hour together at one of the many fine establishments on the water.  She had other ideas.

We ended up over there and she immediately drug me to the new Build A Bear workshop.  Thats fine, I said to myself, we will just look.  And, she had already purchased a new toy earlier in the day.  But.................She really, really wanted one, but my Dad voice took over and I shut down the episode.  Then she brought out the big gun.  "Dad, I will use my own money!"  Normally, I would think this was great, but A)She had been telling me for weeks that she wants to save enough money to purchase and Apple watch and B)She had already purchased one toy the same day, and C)25$ for a teddy bear is a bit absurd, then you have to purchase the clothes separately.  But....on the other hand, A)who am I to tell someone how to spend their own money, even if I don't agree with what they are spending the money on, and B)I don't really want her to have an Apple watch anyways, because a 6 year old doesn't need that kind of toy.

Well, as you can see, I was in a bit of a pickle.  This is what I did, and I don't know if it was right or wrong, but it is what I did.  I shut the plan down on site.  I explained to her that she informed me that she wanted to save her money for a larger purchase down the road and that by spending her money she would never accomplish that goal of saving up.  She didn't cry, but she was disappointed.  I couldn't even get her to eat ice cream.  We made the journey home and she went upstairs and shut the door to her room.  I waited a few minutes going through everything in my mind and then I also went upstairs.  I knocked and entered.  I then sat her down and explained to her that I wanted her to think long and hard about it over night and decide if she truly wanted to spend her money or would she rather save it up.  If she truly wanted to spend her money, we would return the next day.  After all, it was her money.  Her face lightened up and she said she would think about it.  She liked the plan.

Well, long story short, we returned the next day and she purchased Rosy the bear with her own money.    I didn't want her to get that Apple watch anyways......