Never make a bet with a 5 year old!

O.K. I'm learning a lesson the hard way! Never make a bet with a five year old! She will remember it even two years later! See, when Tink was 5 she began asking for an American Girl doll. Well, these dolls are $100+! At this time in her life she was very adamantly against reading. Now, I'm a reader! I usually have at least five books going at once...on different subjects. I've always loved reading. I even remember sitting in Mrs. Miller's class in the first grade when it finally "clicked". I realized I could read! I could read anything! That was an amazing experience for me. My daughter, however, just wasn't interested in learning.

Now, the fact that I'm a teacher...her teacher...didn't help matters any. I worried and fretted! Was I doing something wrong? Can I really homeschool if I can't even teach my daughter to read? You know what I mean! Anyway, I told her that if she learned how to read and read her very first American Girl book then I would gladly buy her an American Girl doll.

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about I'll give you a little history. The American Girl books take a girl during a particular period of American history and write a ficticious set of books based on that time period. Uncle David and John gave Tink her first series of AG books for her birthday this year. They're about Kit, who lived during the Great Depression. Tink now knows all about the Great Depression thanks to these great books, and thanks to her great uncles!

So, obviously, my fears were for nothing and my precious daughter did indeed learn how to read. When she got her AG series for her birthday, she was off! I made her narrate the first book to make sure she was understanding and comprehending. Every two pages that she read she had to come tell me about. She did this for the entire book. I was very impressed.

The day she got done reading the book we waited for Daddy to get home from work and set out towards the computer. She picked an AG doll that looked just like her. She even has earrings! I must say, that was the best $100 I've spent in a long time. Watching her work so hard for that doll, dream over it, search the catalogs and internet for it, and wait for it. That's what is so wonderful about children and bringing them up. They love and treasure things so much more when they work for it themselves. So often they're lavished with gifts before they even know they want them. This doll, Hannah, is special to Tink and always will be. She's special to me too! We've already made a place for her in Tink's room and made her a bed, jewelry, food, etc. Oh, to be a child again!