Modern Parenting

So last spring played a little game to get rid of some of Ellie's stuffed animals. We put them all in a pile and then took turns picking one to keep and one to give away. Surprisingly it went really well. Mommy and Daddy managed to make sure that the toys that mattered to US were in the keep pile, and in the end we gave away half of her stuffed friends.

One that I was surprised she chose to give away was Timmy the Turtle. We asked her a few times "Are you sure?" and she said yes. We didn't have an issue with the missing animals until just a couple days ago when we were flipping through photos of my gnomes.

Ellie: Where is my turtle? I haven't seen him in a long time.
Mommy: Oh, do you remember? We gave him away to a child who couldn't afford to buy her own toys.
Ellie: But I miss him.
Mommy: You do?
Ellie: Can we get him back?
Mommy: No, he lives with another girl now who is so happy that you gave him to her.
Ellie: Can I see?
Mommy: Can you see what?
Ellie: Can I see da girl who has him now?
Mommy: Uh...

... (thank goodness for Google*)

Mommy: See? Look how happy she is.
Ellie: Can we ask her if I can have the turtle back?
Mommy: No, that wouldn't be very nice, but look how happy you made her feel!

Ok, so I'm not sure REALLY got it. It was hard for Ellie to see another girl happy with her beloved turtle, but I get the feeling she understood. The next couple days at school she told her teachers about the photo she saw and how she missed her turtle and she was sad, but she was glad that the girl was happy.

* The above photos were found on Random Shannon's blog. In case they get word of me using their photo, I thought I'd take a moment to say Thank You for helping me prove a point with my daughter. lol.