As many of you know Tatie has joined the fast paced world of “Brownie-Girl Scouts”!  As much as Todd and I tried to disuade her from this extracurricular activity, she won out in the end by presenting an irrefutable argument…”But, it will help me make friends Mommy.”  How could I say no to those big blue eyes!!!  And how could Todd say no to mine when I told him what she said. 

So Tatie is a Brownie!  A fully functioning member of the Girl Scouts USA.  To earn their very first merit badge, the troop leaders took the girls (five in total) to the Build-A-Bear Workshop.  (Yes, you can actually earn a badge by “building a bear”.  And to think I had to learn to start a fire when I was a girl scout…sheesh!)  The troop leader generously used the outing as her daughter’s birthday party and paid for the girls base bear expense, which happened to be $10.  So with $10 gift card in hand, Tatie and I went on the hunt for the perfect bear to stuff.

For those of you who have never been to Build-A-Bear here’s how it works.  You pick out an unstuffed animal from different bins around the store, ranging in price from $10 – $25.  Then you take the bear to the stuffing station where the helper helps you fill your bear with a lovely cotton/poly blend.  After that you give your bear a heart blessed with everything you want your bear to stand for…in our case it was lots of Bownies forever, BFF, and cookie madness (soon to be soliciting the relatives in a few months).  Then the attendant laces up the bear and sends the bear, the girl scout, and the mom in search of clothing for said bear  (whom Tatie chose to name Party Animal!).  The clothing ranges in price from a small t-shirt at $5 to very ornate outfits for $25 and everything inbetween.  We happened to choose a lovely pair of PJ’s for $8.  You then have the oppurtunity to buy things like shoes, coats, hats, purses, jewlery, backpacks, and all manner of other accessories for your bear.

We made it out of the store only spending a grand total of $10 above our alotted $10 giftcard.  Other mom’s weren’t so lucky.  One poor mother’s eyes went wide as the cash register rang up $79 for her daughter’s bear!  And another mom finally drawing the line, when her daughter begged for a bear skateboard, reduced her daughter to a tantrum of epic portportions in the check out line. 

But my Tatie was a perfect jewel!  She chose her outfit and bear within her means and took the answer “No” with more grace and dignaty than any other 6 year old I have ever seen!  She may have earned a Build-A-Bear badge today for Girls Scouts…but she also earned my deepest respect for her incredably mature behavior.

Well done Tatie!  And a hearty welcome to our new addition Party Animal!