My American Dilemma….
So Maya has decided that this doll looks like her. She wants her. She is hoping to get her for Christmas. So here’s the dilemma:
1. Doll is $87, plus tax and shipping.
2. She already has 3 American Girl dolls.
One of the dolls that she already has is supposed to look like her, too, but this one is NEW, and Maya thinks she looks MORE like her than the other one. She got the first one (named Abby) from a very good friend of mine who lives near NYC, and was overcome by the fun of going to American Girl Place and shopping while she was there. The second doll, Kaya, she got for her birthday, instead of a birthday party. The third doll, Nellie, she actually saved her money and bought for herself.
So I feel like one of those cartoons with a devil on one shoulder, and an angel on the other. The angel is saying, “She has 3 already, she certainly does NOT need another. If she TRULY wants the doll, she will save her own money to buy it.”
The devil is saying, “It’s Christmas, and you’ve bought her clothes and books. Boring! Yawn. Wake me up when you get her something interesting. And oh, by the way, you buy Ted what HE wants, and he buys you what YOU want (hello Nano in my pocket as we speak), so why are you so hesitant to buy her what SHE wants, when it is one of the few things she has truly expressed interest in?” The devil also tells me that the American Girl company is pretty groovy…as you can read about here…forgive the christian right source…
The angel reminds me that she hasn’t mentioned the doll since I put the catalog away…the devil knows she truly wants it, and would be thrilled to get it on Christmas. Sigh.
Friday I came home from the company Christmas party with 2 glasses of Chardonnay under my belt, and I wanted to buy it for her. I WANTED HER TO HAVE IT ON CHRISTMAS MORNING. But my angel called in reinforcements…I called Dorothy and Cherry, and they talked me down, off of the “order now” page at American Girl.com. Whew. I don’t know about this Christmas thing. Maya’s not giving me any pressure, but I sure do give it to myself!
4 Comments
Cherry
Wow! That really does look just like her.
Stick with your gut. You wouldn’t have called in back-up if you really needed to get it for her.
Autumn's Mom
Well you know my answer. NO WAY! hahaha Get her some art stuff! I got Autumn some really neat things at Aaron Brothers. You can spoil and nurture creativity.
Maya's Granny
The reason you can get Ted what he wants and Ted can get you what you want is that your values are already formed, and neither of you already has three of whatever it is you want. Your job with Maya is harder than that — you have to stand between her and the very materialistic culture she was born into and make certain it doesn’t corrode her soul.
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