Mother of the year award?

Kennedy was invited to Raeya's 4th birthday party yesterday. I decided to take Kennedy with me to pick out the birthday gift. On the drive to the gift store, we talked about who we were there to buy a gift for. (It was my attempt to mentally prepare her to avoid any meltdowns. I am not one of those mother's who buys the kids something everytime we go into a store.)

Happy and excited to spend the day with her friends, she grabbed my hand and we skipped our way into the store. After about 30 minutes, she finally made a decision on which gift she wanted to buy. So we headed toward to the cashier. She happily put her items on the counter. Whew! Then out of the corner of her eye, she spotted an Ariel phone that she wanted. Of course, I quickly reminded her that we were there to buy Raeya's gift. In my motherly voice, I asked her to give the nice lady the toy phone, so that we could pay for the "other" stuff. I could see her eyes start to tear up, but she did as I asked her to do. We walked out holding hands. As we left, I watched the passerby's faces. Most looked at Kennedy and could see that she was sad. They passed me without saying a thing, just a pouty lip as if they felt sorry for the poor girl. And all I could think was, what about the poor mother who is trying to teach her child the value of money, appreciate giving to others, etc.? Next time, I am going to wear a sign that says, "Mother of the year!"

How many of you would have given in and bought "it" anyway?

(By the way, she had a blast @ the "princess" party!)