A Tale Of Two Days

Today and yesterday have been a bit of deja vu days for me. Yesterday (Tuesday), I took the girls to The Grove to wait for Mr. Mustard to finish work. He usually goes to work on Monday morning and we don't see him again until Tuesday night because he works through the night getting things ready for Tuesday's show. Needless to say, these long shifts of working 30 hours (or more) straight make him really tired...too tired to drive home. So I went to pick him up from work so he wouldn't have to drive.

I wasn't sure what time he'd be leaving work (sometimes he can get off work a few hours before the show airs), so we headed over towards the Lot and decided to hang out at to the Grove (an outdoor shopping mall) in the early afternoon.

We bummed around and had ice cream at Haaggen-Dazs, checked out the cool gadgets at the Apple Store, and then went to The American Girl doll store.

Paprika is really into putting on make-up now. You can see she did her own eyebrows! :-)



Ginger tried some ice cream, too. Nothing like chocolate ice cream. Yum!



All told we were at The Grove for about five hours waiting for Mr. Mustard to finish work...and that was probably a mistake on my part. Five hours was too long for them...much too long (especially because I was by myself with them).

I figured it would be fun to go to The American Girl Doll store, right? I have been wanting to get Paprika one of their little dolls (the Bitty Baby ones) for awhile now, and what a perfect opportunity. Right?

Well, we got there and she found this doll that she LOVED. It had to be THAT doll. That doll was her friend. Not the other dolls. That doll.



But THAT doll was out of stock, and they would not sell the floor model. Paprika was so upset and sad and hurt and mad. She was really heartbroken and wanted everyone to know it...(it was a SCENE!)

We had a big heart-to-heart last night about disappointment, frustration, anger, and sadness. It was a pretty big teaching moment, I guess...even if it was just about a doll.

So, today we had to go back to the Lot to pick up Mr. Mustard's car (after he had rested and slept enough to drive it home), and The Grove is right next door...so we stopped by the American Girl store and what do you know, they had just received a shipment and the doll was in stock.



I hesitated on whether or not to get it for her...but I think she learned her lesson, and it was something she really wanted and she was very appreciative to receive. I know I won't always be able to fix things for her, and I won't always be able to make her dreams come true. But I can now...so I did it.

I haven't seen a girl more in love with her doll...ever. And it made my heart happy to make her heart happy...even if it was just a little thing.



But don't you know if she ever makes a scene like that again, I am not above taking the doll "back to the store" (or hiding it in my closet) until she can learn to behave. ;-) But for now, things are good...really good! All's well that ends well!