Several years ago, I took Carrie into the pet store one day to look at the animals, to try to get her to touch some of them, and maybe try to encourage a little talking. We looked at the bunnies, the hamsters, even the snakes, and she made a few excited sounds but didn’t really say much. She did, however, keep coming back to a pair of fluffy little round blue birds, a pair called Love Birds. Let’s just say this pet store was extremely proud of those two ping-pong ball sized birds because the creatures sans cage still cost $99.

Carrie would toddle back over to these and stare at them while jumping up and down and vocalizing. Every once in a while she would say, “Blue!” and I would praise her efforts. Then it was time to go.

As I was strapping Carrie into her car seat, she looked at me with a pleading expression and said, “Mommy. Pretty. Blue. PLEASE.” We RAN back into the store to buy those stupid birds and all their accessories, and I went home to face the wrath of everyone from my husband to our parents to the next door neighbors. Screw them…my daughter used words to ask for something and she got it.

(Author’s Note: my father’s snappy comeback was, “What are ya gonna do if the kid wants a pony?!?” To which I replied just as snappily, “Well, it had better not sh*t in the living room!”)

Yesterday, I put the finishing touches on a Carrie Project that took three days of coordination and more money than the new laptop I’ve been coveting. Carrie has been asking for a stage to put on her performances. It’s been weeks of her sweetly asking for us to go buy “wood and hammers and nails.” I finally just begged the local major chain home improvement store for help, and here is what we came up with:

The pallets were free, the delivery cost more than a week’s worth of groceries, and they couldn’t deliver ONLY the pallets since I wasn’t buying those. I bought the outdoor rug to go on top of the pallets, mostly because I had to purchase something to get the delivery. Let’s just say it’s a really good thing that my husband doesn’t read my blog.

Was this taking child spoiling to new lengths? Possibly. Was it worth it? Definitely. Carrie expressed a want, she compromised on how we would do it (by letting it be a patio area for our lawn chairs when she’s not using it, and by letting it be outside instead of in the living room like she wanted), and she waited patiently for the process to take place. I’m proud of her. Now I have to go get to work building a stable for the pony that’s being delivered tomorrow.