Saving Up

Our beautiful Gracie got her monthly American Girl magazine in the mail last week.  And, while she has been a HUGE fan of American Girl and their dolls for a long while now, she has never taken so instantly to a doll character.

 (Yes she LOVED McKenna and definitely wanted her more than any other doll, but it was more of a gradual thing after Mamaw got her the books and she she saw the movie..etc.)

American Girl announced it's new Girl of the Year: Isabelle. She is a ballerina.  I am sure you now get the instant love.

Well, as you probably know, those dolls are expensive!  She went from having none of the dolls, to now having 2 of them (thanks to Mamaw, mommy is too cheap to buy them).  Gracie loves Caroline and Rebecca, and now she really, really wants Isabelle.

She wants her so bad, that she took to my suggestion of saving up for her.

Now, I bet you are thinking I am a horrible mom for making her buy her own doll, but think about what an accomplishment it will be for her to save and hope and dream and then be able to purchase something she really wants--herself.

The doll is $120.  We told her that if she saved up the money, daddy and I would cover shipping and handling.

And, before you start to feel sorry for her--don't!  Thanks to cousin Issac generous Christmas gift and a few chores she is already up to $21 and she just got the catalog last week! Daddy has offered more generous amounts for vacuuming both cars, and Candice is already on board and promised to send her money for her birthday instead of a gift--so I would bet by June she will have saved up enough money to make Isabelle her own.

We are so proud of her for not only wanting to save her money, but for the persistence she has shown. Just in the amount of time it has taken me to type this blog and make her a crafty money bank and chart, she already has a list of ideas on how she can earn extra money around the house.

 (You may already know that chores here are a part of family life. Our kids aren't given an allowance, and are expected to do chores daily.  Gracie does have more as her ability level is higher, but Thomas can and does things to help out as well. Gracie does have a list of "extra" jobs she can do to earn money.  And, she also knows that daddy will pay her ridiculous amounts to do stuff he doesn't want to do ;)

So, feel free to encourage Gracie. Saving money has NEVER been her strong suit. In fact, she has been known to spend it all before she has it in hand. 

We will be sure to keep you posted on how well the savings are going.

 

Caroline--Birthday 2013                            Rebecca--Christmas 2013

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