i wish...

lately, a lot of things have been coming out of tae's mouth that begin with... "i wish..."

"i wish i could have ballet classes."
"i wish i could have tip tap shoes."
"i wish i could have purple crocs. " (i succumbed to this one.)

and lately, a lot of her requests have been very, well, traditionally feminine.  my daughter is now in that stage where she loves pink and purple.  she won't wear her brown leggings that she wore all winter because, in her words, she doesn't "look beautiful" in them. 

she has a pair of play dress up shoes that i only let her wear in the backyard.  and she wears them EVER SECOND that she is in the backyard.  they are plastic open toe high heels that are silver with lacey purple flower on the front.  i'm surprised that she doesn't trip in them - i would if i wore something like that.  there are about 2 inches of shoe left on the back of the shoe.

when we were in california, her grandma bought her a pair of keds-ish shoes that are kind of ballet-style.  the problem is that these shoes rub her ankle, and give her blisters.  we were at gap kids, and she had her eyes on these jelly sandals... and i convinced her that the sneakers were better, that she could run and jump better in them.  d'oh.  i told her that the jelly sandals were not good every day shoes, that they were good for the beach only.

today, we were talking about money, and about allowances.  tae had collected 13 cents from spare change she found around the house... and she told me that she was saving up for these jelly sandals from gap kids.

i don't want to get in the habit of making her every wish come true... and i'm not sure that ballet lessons are coming her way any time soon...

but i'm not sure what to do on the shoes issue.  she pointed out to me a girl at her school who was wearing ballet flats.  so i'm hard pressed to make it sound like she is way to young for them.  (maybe when she turns 4?)  i could help her save up for the shoes, but i think she's too young to help out with chores, and i think a little young to start an allowance.

BUT, i also feel bad that we have these shoes that she won't even wear.  i could try to exchange them... but really, i want her to wear closed toe shoes.  and if i buy her shoes that she has been coveting, she probably won't wear her brand new crocs any more.  BUT, the flip side is that if i can get her to wear something other than these dress up shoes in the backyard... well, that would be a plus.

what would you do?

i wish she was lusting after converse all stars... but i supposed i can't complain too much.  my favorite shoes for the spring are... a pair of black ballet flats.

Comments

[Angie in Texas]

you know, i go through a lot of this with my kids, too. their grandparents/my XILs have no boundaries when it comes to spending and i end up fighting an uphill battle. (they give the kids $20 and say "ask mommy to take you to wal-mart [where we don't shop] or game stop.")

it's important for you to create boundaries for her. it's important that she learn to put her toys/clothes away, 'make' her bed, etc, but not as a reward, but instead as a functioning member of your family. i don't want my kids thinking every time they set out the dinner plates we're heading to target for a new toy! i want them to learn that setting the table is something we all benefit from . . .