40 Days Till 40 (Day 20)

COMPLETELY UN-BEAR-ABLE

Normally I wait until the end of the day to write my blog entry (which explains why I often don’t post it until the following day), but I heard something so horrifying that I had to write about it immediately:

My daughter informed me this morning that she owns twelve Build-A-Bears.  That’s right, TWELVE.   Holy crap on a crutch.  

For those of you who are not well versed in the unholiness that are Build-A-Bears, they are over priced stuffed animals marketed with à la carte clothing and accessories.  The starting rate for just the animal is usually between $15-$25.  Of course, it’s near impossible to get out of the store for that price.  Once one adds in the clothing, shoes, hats, sunglasses, purses, etc., each Build-A-Bear can easily cost more like $50-$75.  Minimum. 

Just to clarify, I did not purchase these twelve stuffed devils.  One she received when she was born (a present from my aunt).  Another she received from a kindly friend (who had come into some money and likes to spoil my daughter mercilessly).  A third (a special Girl Scouts Bear) she got at a Build-A-Bear birthday party for one of the girls in her Girl Scouts Troop.  Of the remaining nine, I have purchased only two:  One is a Build-A-Bear knock off (purchased on vacation for $10 TOTAL) that my daughter had to stuff herself, the other is a Halloween-themed cat in a witch costume which she received in lieu of several weeks of allowance (I lucked out and only had to pay $38 for the beast. She named it Hermione.).

Who then, purchased the seven other fluffy little heathens?  You can thank her dear old dad for that one.

I have not seen all of these fur-beasts (my daughter wisely keeps most of them at her father’s), but I knew something was amiss when we went into the Build-A-Bear store last October and the staff knew her by name.  Apparently she has been conning her father into purchasing a new Build-A-Bear (with all its accoutrements) every couple of months.  Her reason?  “Well, I got good grades on my report card.” (Or it’s probably just, “Pleeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaasssseee?”) Wrap him in plastic and jam a stick up his ass, folks.  Daddy has been SUCKERED. 

Look, I am not one to deny my daughter gifts.  I have a tendency to buy her way too many DVDs, but I A) don’t usually buy them full price (Hello, $5 bin at Walmart and Big Lots), B) purchase them with the idea that we will watch them together and C) set limits on how many she will receive (i.e. making her wait for her birthday or Christmas).  I am not saying that this makes me the better parent, but I just don’t want my child to be a spoiled brat.  I mean, I could see buying her a Build-A-Bear at the end of the school year, but every single quarter?  Seriously?  Come on now!  

And let’s be honest…While I know I couldn’t afford to buy her that many Build-A-Bears even if I wanted to, in truth, I really don’t want to.  Of course I am happy that she is successful in school, but I want her to get good grades because it is expected of her (and because she can), not because I lavish her with an expensive gift.  The same goes for doing chores.  

This, unfortunately, is a constant battle with her.  I feel that I am always the parent who says no. 

So, not surprisingly, when she said to me, “Hey, I got good grades.  Can we go to Build-A-Bear?” I replied, “Nice try.  I would rather spend my money on stuff for us to do together.”

So there.  Lol. 

Until tomorrow, Lovelies….

*Written 1/23/14