Mature Beyond Her Years

I don't really know where to start with this story... Tonight I was shocked and astounded with my daughter.

Every year we let her pick a costume and then buy it under the knowledge that she has to work for her costume. She has a few chores she has to complete daily like feeding the dogs in the morning and afternoon, getting dressed, cleaning her room, picking up after herself, and always ready to be a big helper. She did her chores and had earned her costume this year without a problem.

I have mentioned on quite a few occasions how Audra is Obsessed with everything super hero. So I guess it wasn't much of a surprise that she picked out being Captain America for Halloween this year. I showed her all the princess costumes and all the animals, but she stuck with her "roots" and wanted to be Captain America.

One thing she wanted to complete her Captain America costume was the Shield. She had talked about it for weeks. Every time we went to Wal-mart she would go look at it and try it on to do her action pack, super hero moves. Ryan and I decided that if she wanted it that she could use her money to pay for it.

 We told her how much it was and that we would take her to get if she wanted to buy it with her own money or she could wait and see if she gets it for Christmas. She decided she didn't want to spend the 9 dollars on the shield and wait until Christmas. I had been wanting to get it for her. I had been thinking about it for a long time so today when I found her gift card left over from her birthday and found out it had 4.63 left I was so excited. Ryan and I told her it would only be 5 dollars now and she decided she could spend that much. She happily opened her piggy bank and we found a five dollar bill.

So excited! 

Audra and I took a picture and quickly got into the truck. Audra sang her own song about trick or treating, pumpkins, and s'mores on the way. I was so excited to see her happy about getting her shield. We walked into Target and skipped to the toy aisle only to find they were out. I told her not to worry though we would go to Wal-mart. We go to Wal-mart... NONE.... I looked down all the aisles. I asked someone to scan and see if there were any in the back. They looked and said no.

I looked at Audra and told her they were out and she looked up at me with those eyes of understanding and said one of the most profound things, "Mom, it's ok. Maybe we can get it another time. All the other kids that wanted to be Captain America needed them." She took my hand without a fit and we walked towards the door. My heart was literally breaking. I didn't know what to say other than tell her I was very proud of her.

I got in the car and called my dad who I had talked to a little earlier and knew we were going to get the shield. I barely could get the words out that they were all out. Audra wanted to talk to him. So I gladly handed the phone to her and I listened as the tears starting to stream down my face. She told my dad and mom both how God had told us not to worry and that she would have been happy to have had the shield, but that she was happy without one too.

I know as a kid I would not have reacted that way. Sometimes even now I don't react that way. I am proud to have her as a daughter and I am proud of how mature she was in the situation. It's funny how sometimes we can learn thankfulness and contentment from a child. I learned that tonight.