A Lesson in Money Management (Alternatively Titled: The Quest for the American Girl Dolls)

About a year ago, an American Girl Doll catalog randomly arrived in our mailbox and Cassidy and Lily immediately decided that they HAD to have one. They carefully studied the catalog, chose their favorite dolls and then presented them to me announcing, "This is what we want for Christmas!" And being the loving mother that I am, I replied, "No. Absolutely not. I am NOT buying you one of those." Perhaps that response seems a bit callous, but my reasons were two-fold:

1. As a single-income family we cannot afford to spend $105 on a doll. Frankly, even if you're Donald Trump I think it's ridiculous to spend that much money on a doll, but to each his own.
2. My girls have NEVER played with dolls! We have quite a few and they have never played house, dressing, feeding, and rocking their babies...not once. So why on earth would I buy them another doll?

However the girls were really set on having these dolls, so I proposed a solution. If they could save enough money, from birthdays, Christmas, etc. then they could buy their own American Girl doll. Without any complaints the girls immediately focused on their new goal, even mentioning to grandparents that they'd rather have money than gifts for their birthdays. I suggested looking at gently used dolls on ebay, showing them how they could get more for their money, but they were not interested. I also discovered the Our Generation dolls at Target, which are about 1/4 of the price of an AG doll and just as cute in my opinion. The girls turned up their noses. Only a brand new American Girl Doll would do.

Slowly the money began to accumulate and in September - on her 8th birthday - Cassidy was the first to reach her goal having saved about $110. We talked that day about how she now had enough money and if she was ready I would help her order her doll...but do you know that she didn't even mention ordering the doll to me once? I started wondering if she was now contemplating if an AG doll was worth giving up her entire savings, but I said nothing.

Last Thursday we were at Target to purchase diapers. Since we came for just the one item I let the kids walk through the toy section briefly before we left. As we wandered I noticed the Our Generation doll section that I had showed the girls months before. "Hey girls, go look at those dolls over there," I casually called...and I walked away. When I peeked my head around the corner a moment later, the girls were fawning over the dolls and all their cute accessories. "These are CUTER than American Girl dolls!" Lily exclaimed. After hearing their enthusiasm, I immediately pointed out the huge cost savings they'd enjoy if they purchased one of these instead of an AG doll. For Lily this was especially exciting news since she was still a ways away from saving enough money for an AG doll.

The girls wanted to put dolls in our cart right then and there, but I told them we'd have to speak to Joey first before making a purchase. With Daddy's blessing I took them back to Target on Saturday to purchase their dolls.

 Cassidy and Holiday Hailey

Lily Anne and Lily Anna...seriously, does it get any better than that?

Finn fell in love with "Hungry, Hungry Hippo" a couple of weeks ago when his co-op teacher brought a farm version of the game to class, so he decided to use some of his saved money to buy the game. (Oh, and he is NOT naked in this picture!)

Today the girls decided to try to dress like their dolls. Cassidy purchased an additional outfit for her doll since hers did not come with two outfits like Lily's did. They both considered buying more accessories and outfits, but I reminded them that Christmas was coming up and their grandparents are always asking for gift ideas! :)

She even did her best to fixt her hair the same way.

The Two Lilys...ready to go horseback riding. :)

Matching braids

Joey and I are very pleased that the girls made this wise choice and seem to have learned a little bit about managing their money carefully. We have not seen them without their dolls the last couple of days, except when they are heading outside to play...Joey made it clear that the dolls are inside toys! :)