Three Year Old Logic

These chairs were caught in the center of a typical outing with a 3 year old. Matt has been gone for the whole week, so we have been doing lots of activities so that I don't go crazy. One of these days we headed over to "the Rio" which is a sort-of outdoor mall. I had only one store definitely on my agenda, so we first headed over to Kohls where I found the exact belt that I wanted, and it was 60% off! Then we walked over to the playground - one that they had never been to - and on the way saw the geese in the man-made pond. Siri could not focus her attention on the slides for nothin'! The kid wanted those geese, and she wanted them now! It was a little chilly, so I prepped Emma that we were going to leave the park, and she came willingly; we checked out the geese again, so Siri could get her fix, and headed off with Barnes & Noble in mind. On the way I decided to check out Dick's Sporting Goods for the child captain's chairs that I've been looking for. (We've got a porch in this apartment and large chairs for Matt and I, and the kids keep hogging them!) So, I was so excited when I found them because they had been hard to find online, for some reason. The sales associate that greeted me upstairs didn't stick around long to talk, probably because I reacted a little too excitedly when I saw the mini chairs! Emma was super excited to have her chair and could barely part with it for the cashier to scan it, and as we were walking out of the store she asked me if she could sleep with it at nap time. :) We had a few minutes left, so I thought we'd still stop at Barnes & Noble, vowing to not buy anything. I love buying things, and books are such great investments that it makes it all the more tempting! Siri was enamored, like usual, by the princess books and Little Einstein books. Emma took to time at all peeling the stickers out and putting them onto a Handy Manny book. Well, I guess I HAD to buy that one! Emma finally started playing with the train set in the kids section while Siri found a little chair to read her Little Einstein books. And all was well until it was time to go. Siri was slightly upset, but manageable; Emma, on the other hand threw a FIT. She badly wanted that one Little Einstein book, and I had to chase her down and strap her wriggling body into the stroller. I was very proud of how I reacted to the tantrum, I was very calm and empathized that it was sad to leave the book behind, and then reminded her of the chairs that we bought. Then she didn't want the chair! She wanted the book instead! This went on and on, until she lost her book-reading before naptime. And I kept thinking about a college friend's recent blog where she mentioned that her son points out to her when she is talking in her "frustrated voice." Even though I kept my cool in the store and for some of the car ride home, my frustrated voice eventually reared its ugly head. And even though I KNOW that 3 year old logic isn't logic at all, I was still incredibly hurt that she decided that she didn't want those chairs that I was so excited about finding. I had to talk myself out of my hurt and tell myself that she was 3, and after her nap she would love that chair again. It's so funny to think that a 3 year old could hurt my feelings, or bring me to that point of disappointment. But after the incident is done, its just so interesting to watch how Emma perceives the world and how her experiences affect her. And how her memory fails her!