March 29, 2010

Can I Have That?

Shopping with my daughters used to easy... well, relatively speaking. It wasn't easy piling them into a wagon and dragging the wagon around a store, but it was a fairly stress-free event. We would look at toys and then move on to the real purpose of our trip with no tears shed. Not any more.
Now when I go to a store, I am bombarded with "Can I have that?" It can make for a frustrating outing. The other day, one of my daughters ran some errands with me. She was looking at a princess birthday card and was disappointed that I didn't buy it. She cried all the way home when I refused to buy a balloon at the grocery store. I tried explaining the concept of money, but it's point she hasn't mastered. Can I blame my daughters? No, they're only four. We don't give in to their every whim, so it's not as though they're given treats on every outing. I'm just trying to figure out how to get over this case of "The Gimmies."

5 comments:

Sadia said...

Sorry. :(

We make lists. I've talked to my daughters about stores being "watch, don't touch". Unless "treat" is specifically on the list (or added to the list for good behaviour), they know they're not getting one.

Meg said...

My daughters are still young enough to not ask for "this" and "that" if I take them to a store. But they are in the stage of "That's MINE" - we've been trying for a couple of months to get ride of the "Mine-ies"... :)

Quadmama said...

The list is a good one.
Oh, and we have the "mine-ies" here, too. I think it all comes with being a multiple and having to share EVERYTHING!

MaryAnne said...

I really like Sadia's list idea. Emma is just starting into the "Gimmie" stage, but she is an old hand at "Mine" - and Johnny is struggling with the concept of Lily being old enough to want to play with toys!

reanbean said...

I hope you find a solution that works. We haven't hit that level of awareness yet, but I'm sure it will come.

When I was in high school, I worked as a checker at a local grocery store. I used to love getting the "no candy, no gum" aisle. It's tough will all the product placement geared towards kids. Sometimes a parent just can't win..

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