the good girl

The Babe is a very good girl. She generally does what she is told, she is generally helpful, obedient, clean, understanding, and eats her dinner most of the time. Normal sibling squabbles aside, she is pretty nice to The Boy, too (well, she did hit him in the face, LOL).

It is unfortunate, however, that her birthday is in mid-fall. Let me explain....

Other kids get cool things for their birthday: a new bike, sidewalk chalk, razor scooters, etc. It's almost mean to give The Babe a cool new outdoor toy on November 1. "Here honey, look! It's a new bike! 6 months from now it might be nice enough outside for you to ride it!" It's a dillema for us as parents. We want The Babe to have cool new stuff, but since there is no "occassion" in the warm months, it seems we would be buying her a cool thing (and lets face it, quite possibly a pricey thing) for no real "reason".

I'm a firm believer in teaching your kids they can't have everything they want the moment they want it. They should learn to anticipate the big things, be patient, perhaps even earn them. I am not saying I am good at this all the time, but it's the general philosophy to which I try to adhere.

So, The Babe has a pair of Barbie roller skates that she got as a gift for her 2nd birthday (we used them a lot inside that year). They are the kind that you put on over her shoe, they adjust length-wise, you can lock some of the wheels so they don't spin. They are intended as a starting tool for teaching your child to skate, and they are very cool. The thing is that The Babe has outgrown them. Not literally, they still fit on her feet at their largest setting, but she is ready for the next step, so to speak. She is interested in skating, she puts her skates on a lot. Her friends all have cool "real" skates, and I know The Babe would like a pair, too.

I think skates make an ideal birthday present, but making her wait all summer with no skates just to get them in the fall seems cruel. Still, I have been struggling with the idea of buying her new skates "just because". It seems to me there needs to be a reason, she needs to think she's getting them because of something, know what I mean?

So, I set her up with a goal. If she is good all week and helps when she is asked, picks up her toys and keeps her room clean, Daddy will take her for new skates. It's an easy goal for her, one that I know she will accomplish, because she really is a good girl. And, dammit, she deserves new skates!