I told Amanda we were off to buy her school shoes and backpack for the new school year. She was very excited for she had her shoes picked out already. She wanted the Girls' Twinkle Toes: Shuffles - Glitterazzi. I was cool with her pick, unfortunately they slid off her foot when she walked and the smaller size was too tight. The pain began. She cried and begged me to buy them anyway. Every pair I would pull out, she would tell me how she hated them. I found her a cute pair that had some of the same qualities, but she still did not like them because they did not have scull and crossbones on them. Why was my 8 year-old into scull and crossbones was beyond me. After about 30 minutes of threatening to not buy any shoes, she agreed to try on the pair I thought would work. She liked them in the end. We even found laces with scull and crossbones on them.
How cute are these?
Well the pain did not end.
Amanda has to carry a lot of books to school along with her lunch box. Plus she rides a bus. With that in mind we needed to get her a backpack on rollers. Target had nothing left on wheels that did not have a Disney character on it. So off to the mall we went. After seeing all the cool messenger bags, Amanda could not and would not find a backpack she likes. Now mind you...Amanda weights nothing and thinks she can carry all her books over her shoulder. Walking in and out of stores through out the mall, she is trying to convince me she can carry a heavy bag. The fighting, pleating and crying begins. I even showed her a Roxy backpack on rollers at Nordstrome's, that any girl would love. She stubbornly did not want it.
I now have no patience, I'm 8 weeks out from my surgery and I give up. I walk from one side of the mall to the other where we are parked, with Amanda behind me crying and pleading for me to buy her a messenger bag. I can't give in now because she brought it to such a crazy level.
On our way out I point out a regular backpack that would work and how ridiculous she is behaving. She looks at it and said OK. I try and explain to her that this process should be fun not painful and she starts crying that she feels bad for fighting with me. She tells me that she just felt disappointment and could not help herself. She tell me she does not want to act like that but she felt out of control and just wanted her way without thinking. It amazes me how she can look at herself. Many adults cannot critique themselves when it comes to behavior. I think she truly understood how unreasonable she as acting. A painful experience became quite a learning experience.
Well we purchased the backpack I liked and she ended up loving it too. 
It is made from organic cotton so she thinks that's way cool. She did spent the rest of the day apologizing for her behavior and we had good conversations about expectations.
Next year, I will begin shopping early enough so that if she behaves badly we can just leave. And if I am lucky, she will be a little more mature and not be so unreasonable. One can hope.
Tuesday morning I packed up her lunch
and I forgot the pain. .
I am so proud and happy of my little 3rd grader.
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