A lesson in spending

Wow! The month of June buzzed right on by and now we're well on our way to the "Big Fourth." The kids and I have enjoyed the beautiful weather we were blessed with by making several trips to the zoo with our new zoo pass. It's been great to have as it's not always possible to take kids and stay the entire day at the zoo....they just don't last that long. So, with our pass, we can take off and go for an hour or two in the morning, picnic there on the lawn for lunch and be home in time for a nice, long afternoon nap. Gabby is also getting to the age that she loves seeing all the animals and telling me what she already knows about them. I would have to say that the aligator is by far her favorite (right now). We never leave the zoo with out checking in on the gator and hopefully getting a ride on the ponies!
This past month also provided an opportunity to teach Gabby about saving money in order to be able to purchase "fun" things. Brad and I both have a theory that we can occasionally buy our kids toys and fun stuff but other than that, it comes at Christmas, birthday and of course the grandparents keep them satisfied. Well, one evening Gabby and I had gone to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things. Gabby had been asking for fish and for some reason, this night I thought, "Why not?" So we purchased 3 goldfish of which she named Nemo, Goldie and Emma. I know you're wondering where she came up with those names...........I HAVE NO IDEA!
So we brought these goldfish home and I prayed that they would not die within the first 24 hours that we purchased them. We put them in a fish bowl that I have had for years. She was just beside herself. I think she told almost everyone that called the house for the next week. Every morning during that week, I would come down before Gabby got up just to check and see if I could still find 3 fish swimming and I would come down to find 3 of the most lively fish ever! So.........after the first week, Gabby came down one morning and asked if she could go to the new dollar store and pick out something as I had promised her $5 to get anything she wanted. I told her we could do that and then, in the same breath, she asked me, "After that, can we go to PetSmart and get an aquarium for my fish?" Well, that just wasn't going to fly with me so I told her that she could either buy toys OR she could put the $5 in her piggy bank and save up money to go buy and aquarium. She ran upstairs right away and got her bank, brought it down and dumped out ALL of her change so that I could count it and see how much she had.
Needless to say, she had over $12 in change BEFORE I gave her my $5 so that day, she decided she would rather have an aquarium than more toys. Later, we trotted off to PetSmart with all of her change and she got her fish a small 1 gallon aquarium. Those $.28 fish have brought her more joy than a $5 toy ever would and I don't have to pick that aquarium up off the floor everyday and throw it back in the toybox so it was a win for both of us.

Among all of the above, Gabby and I also enjoyed our annual trip to the strawberry patch this year. As she gets older, she eats less and picks more, always asking for my approval before she drops the berry in the box. I believe in today's world, we need to GIVE our children the affirmation and blessing they are looking for without them asking for it. I want her to grow into a strong confident woman, something I didn't get until after college. It wasn't that I didn't get it at home, I just always felt like I needed others' approval to be accepted and I want Gabby to get that long before college graduation. I want her to know in her heart that she is a wonderful, smart and funny person.

So that catches you up a little on what's been going on here. I'll try to do a better job of posting this month! Thanks for reading!