Trust the Kids

I have some family in from out of state and they wanted to go into the city and scoushe around.
*Side Note for those of you who don't know: "Scoushe" has several definitions. Literally it means "a little bit;" like you use a scoushe of salt in your cooking. Other definitions include: 1) to meander without direction or with little direction; 2) a jerk/douchebag: a person of little consequence. Those are the big definitions.

Back to the story. Anyways, so my family said they wanted to see Navy Pier in particular today but it was pouring rain when we got there. My sister had brought my nephews into the city as well because they wanted to ride the Ferris Wheel and that wasn't going to happen. Honestly, we were all a little freaked out about how the boys were going to handle being couped up in the Pavilion at Navy Pier-which seems huge until it is *PACKED* with people trying to avoid the sporadic showers. Then you get antsy watching out for the boys, you have to worry about keeping them occupied but not breaking anything...basically it could have been a huge mess. It actually turned out to be a lot of fun.

We were walking in the Pavilion and there was a Build-A-Bear company inside. They were running a deal: Any animal, any outfit, and any shoes for like $30, so I decided to buy a bear for one of the boys so my sister wouldn't have to buy two or try and get the boys to share. I remember being a kid and remember how kids act from when I was a baby-sitter: They are never that great at sharing. I figured I would let them pick out a bear and we would get an outfit for it and everything. It was great. The baby picked out a black teddy bear, filled it to be "soft," picked out "Biker Boots," "Biker Chaps," a Harley Davidson shirt, a Harley Davidson bandana, and aviator sunglasses. It was seriously the CUTEST bear ever made. We were all so proud of it. The adults probably more so than the kids!! lol

After I pay for it, we go back in the line to see what his brother had decided on. We were in the line and asked him which one he was getting. He had picked up one of the less inexpensive puppies, so my mom-in an effort to "get the most out of the money"-was trying to talk him into getting one of the more expensive dogs. So he looked around again, but he was dead set on this dog. He just loved it. He loved being the one to work the pedal that filled the pup with stuffing and then putting the heart inside and the noise maker; he picked out some Disney Cars pajamas and Cars slippers for it to wear. He didn't embellish with anything else. He just kept it really simple. And you know what? That was one of the cutest puppies I've seen.

He brought it over after they had gone home to change and get cleaned up. The adults were playing a card game on the floor and he was sitting behind me on the couch, just cuddling with this stuffed dog. We asked what he was naming it and he said: "Puppy." My sister thought he was being crabby when he said this--because it was practically nap time the first time he told her-but when we asked him again tonight, he said the same thing. Again with keeping it really simple.

In the end, we went home with some pretty amazing stuffed animals. I'm not gonna try and be noble and say it was the simplest one that ended up being the best because it wasn't the best. It was just the one that taught me something: Kids do know what they want. It doesn't have to be grandiose or anything either. Sometimes, to get the most out of your money, you just have to really enjoy what you are spending your money on. A deal isn't a deal if you don't enjoy it. My nephew's dog may not have really saved us any money in the end, but I can't remember the last time I saw him this happy and calm!

Trust the kids. They can teach us a lot actually. Sometimes we forget how smart they really are. We think, because we have all this life experience that we have to know more than them or know better what's best for them. That's not always the case!