Getting Rid of Stuff

The rest of Monday was pretty impressive, too. We are in the process of buying a house, and so I am beginning to panic about moving and everything that goes with it. Buddy has a little trouble getting rid of stuff he doesn't use, mostly because he doesn't want to hurt the feelings of the person who gave it to him. So I spent Monday with him going through his things and packing them off to the consignment shop. The question, "would you rather keep this toy or have money for it?" seemed to work well for him.

Of course, Princess wants to do whatever Buddy is doing, which is (usually) fine because it is (usually) a good example. However, Princess has less things because she has been here four years less and because she breaks stuff. So all she has left are the "good" toys.  As she brought in toy after toy after toy that I personally had put tons of thought, energy, and love into purchasing and said, "I don't really care about this that much," I took a deeeeep Mommy breath and said to myself, "don't freak out. Don't make this about you and your feelings. She's right: she doesn't really care about it that much," and gave it a big Whatever. I paid her $5 per giant pile of junk and $5 per good toy I wanted to keep and asked permission to give it to one of the little girls, which she always granted.

I did talk her out of the cupcake maker, for which I am kicking myself and asking WHY? but dang it, she really does love the thing. I don't know if you are familiar with this particular brand of parental torture. Never. Ever. Never. Buy one for a child who is younger than the age recommended on the box. I think the box recommends ages 32+, and I am telling you, stick with it. The directions are hard for a young reader to follow, it's difficult to clean, and the mixes cost $5 for three cupcakes. I have done it with her exactly twice. It involved the entire day. The only part kids care about is the frosting mechanism that spins the cupcake around while piping frosting in a professional manner. Hahahahahaha! The frosting container has a hole about this big: . to stuff the frosting into. So for each cupcake, I am forced to stand in the kitchen for (literally) hours stuffing frosting that smells like something died into a tiny tiny whole because my children do not yet have the motor coordination. Because they are not yet 32. So don't ever buy one. But if you're not going to heed my advice, buy it off my blog, because then I get a cut.

Anyway.

Princess racked up $30 during this exploit. We has discussed several times over the past six months that she may have possession and control of her money when she is done throwing furniture and toys and kicking in the door when she is angry, but until then, Daddy and I are keeping her money to pay for repairing any tantrum-induced damage. So she says to me:

"I really want to buy a stroller for my baby dolls. So I am going to try to not have tantrums. I know it's going to be hard and a lot of work. I think maybe if I say my "I am smart."* three times every day, I will feel good enough about myself to not throw things and kick."

Just lately, Princess has been expressing acceptance of responsibility for her tantrums. Sometimes. But this is defiantly the first time she has had a plan. She even asked if she could put a sign on her wall, so I gave her a dry-erase board.

The $30 was totally worth it.



*What I jokingly call "Daily Affirmations." A card has "I am smart. I am special. I am successful. I am somebody." written on it. Princess gets a Skittle after she says each one.