Do You Ever Just "Want"?

When I asked Bella what she wanted to be for Halloween this year, her answer was "a pink pony". (She was very specific that it should be a pony and not a horse. Don't ask.) For weeks, which in kid time is like a year, she's insisted she wants to be a pink pony.
 

Last week, she changed her mind to pink donkey. What four-year old girl wants to be a donkey? I'm not sure, but it didn't really matter, because I figured I could do the same, homemade costume that had been forming in my head and it would be fine...a pink hoodie, pink pants, and some sort of easy face paint. If I felt like a total super-mom, I'm going to try and put her hair into a bunch of ponytails like a show horse.
 

Which brings us to today. This afternoon, I was showing Bella some pictures of face painting designs on my phone, and she declared she was going to be a purple unicorn for Halloween. We don't own anything purple (anything!) and I couldn't find purple face paint anywhere that wasn't combined with a bunch of other colors we would never use. Deep breath.
 

We had to run some errands today at Target, and I ran into this awesomeness...
 

How crazy would Bella go if we bought her this costume?!? The answer is: SO CRAZY!!!! Plus! It would completely take away any "work" on my end of having to come up with costume or face ideas for whichever pink pony/pink donkey/purple unicorn she decides on by Thursday.


Here's the problem: it's $30.00. Yes, that is a ridiculous sum of money to spend on a costume for a four-year old. Or, I guess, any age. I know it's so unnecessary, but I just want it. I know it's a result of really good marketing; it's just so tempting to look at this costume and want the immediate, easy, fun gratification.

And honestly, if Steve hadn't disagreed, I'd have walked out of Target with this costume. (Which is a whole different discussion about submission. I did not enjoy it.) I hadn't budgeted for any costumes, so it would have just gone on the credit card and I would have been completely fine with that.

In the end, we didn't buy the costume, I sulked a little bit (yep), and life went on like normal. I don't want to be the kind of person who finds happiness in stuff, but I have to admit, it would be nice sometimes to whip out the credit card whenever I wanted. I also don't want my definition of "need" to change as God blesses us with more financial security. I want to teach Bella and Evelyn about excess, real need, giving, contentment, thankfulness; and I want to be able to live out that example in front of them.

So we're going to create a costume of awesome, donkey likeness on Thursday night and let her go collect a freakish amount of candy from total strangers! Hopefully, she'll remember to say thank you.