Big Spender

A couple of months ago we starting giving Brooke an allowance. Granted, her weekly payoff is a whopping $1 but to her, that's a real jackpot. She is extremely helpful around the house... She grabs wipes/diapers for me when I'm changing Adrienne, helps put away laundry and groceries, and is altogether very tidy and cleans up after herself constantly without being asked to. We thought that she truly deserved to have something for her helpfulness and good attitude. Each Friday she gets her dollar and excitedly puts it in the drawer of her nightstand. Then, on Sundays, she puts ten cents in the offering plate for her tithe. It's extremely precious!

Brooke has collected quite a bit of money in her almost four years of life. She even has a bank account for her all her riches. We joke that she has more money than we do! Lol. So today when we were getting ready to go to Wal Mart for some groceries she asked to bring some of her money along. My first thought was "no way!" I couldn't fathom my little girl spending her own hard earned money but John quickly reminded me that that's why she gets an allowance. Then he helped her get her bright yellow purse and together they threw in some of her money.

When we got to the store we followed our usual routine... Divide and conquer. I rushed off to get groceries like I was on Supermarket Sweep or something and John took the girls to look at fun things. When we reunited, Brooke excitedly showed me her prized item that she was going to buy... A silly little light up toy that spins. To her it was something wonderful to behold! She clinched onto it tightly until it was time to put it on the conveyor belt and pay for it. The grand total of her first purchase? A mere $4.32. She fumbled through her little purse, spilling out one dollar bills without even knowing it, and proudly surrendered her earnings to the the cashier. She was beaming with pride and so excited. It was one of those moments that I just started at here with amazement over how much I love her. I can't describe it.

My little girl is getting so big and her independence is growing by the day. It really is hard to see her as anything more than that tiny baby I gave birth to but seeing her with her spending her own money made me realize that she is anything but that. Oh how I love her!