Four months into my experiment, I'm pleased to say that I have not caved. I have not bought a toy for either of my two children. For the most part, it has been smooth sailing. In fact, I've noticed that, since I've stopped spending my leisure time sipping Pinot Grigio and trolling the internet for The Next Big Thing for Little Tiger and The Milk Belly Princess, I have a bit more of a discretionary income. Most of this I save because, sadly, preschool is not free. However, instead of buying THINGS for the girls, I've become more interested in exposing them to a variety of different experiences.
Last month Little Tiger attended a one day pony camp at Rocky River Stables. She was assigned a horse named Oreo that she learned to clean and brush. After grooming time was over, she and a helper led Oreo out into the ring and she spent a solid 45 minutes riding her pony. Here they are getting ready to ride:
Total non-sequitur, but the boots she is wearing were purchased for her uncle 50 years ago and have been worn by every child in the family at one time or another. To my knowledge, this is the closest they've ever come to any real cowboy-type action.
Anyway, Little Tiger LOVED it. Se loved it so much that she's already signed up to do it again. She loved it so much that, ever since that adventure, one of her favorite kinds of imaginary play features her smaller stuffed animals going horseback riding on the larger ones.
So a few days ago I was browsing around Pat Catan's for some craft supplies and my eye landed on a small teddy bear-sized English riding helmet priced at a reasonable fifty cents. I thought nothing of picking it up and tossing it into my shopping basket. I knew that Little Tiger would love it. It would make her horseback riding play so much more authentic if her little animals had the proper head gear.
I made it to the end of the aisle before I realized that this was a TOY. Buying it would violate my contract with myself almost a full year before it ends. I returned it to the shelf, startled at how, for just a minute, I completely forgot myself. I wasn't angry or disappointed, just really startled. I don't DEFINE MYSELF as The Woman Who Does Not Buy Toys For Her Children, but this experiment is really important to me and I found it strange that it suddenly and temporarily seemed to just slip my mind.