A Child's Life Lesson - Being Happy for a Friend

Cardboard and Duct Tape Ice Skates - Courtesy of Mama

The local ice skating rink has a yearly American Girl ice skating party.  It's just a fun afternoon when girls and boys can bring their American Girl doll and skate with their friends.  This year our daughter invited a new friend to come with her.  It was fun to watch them side by side with dolls in hand, wobbling their way around the rink.   By the end they were skating faster, and making a few spins.  

With this being our second year to attend, we knew what to expect.  An hour and a half worth of skating, and then the raffle..... an American Girl doll - Girl of the Year!  This year it happens to be Isabelle - the ballerina in training.  

Now these dolls are ridiculously expensive, and we have told our daughter if she wants another doll, she needs to save up her money and buy it herself.  She has purchased one before by working little jobs around the house, and taking care of the neighbors cats, and saving up her money.  So, she knows what it takes to get one.  But the idea of winning one - oh my!

So the time comes for the raffle.  Each child wins a little something; ice skates for their doll, and AG book, or other little trinkets.  Finally the raffle for the doll.  Lo and behold, our daughters friends name is called.  She won!!  How cool is that!  I took a deep breath knowing that my daughter was going to be pretty disappointed.  She comes over to me very excited for her friend, and then has a sad look on her face.  Gently I said, "you need to be happy for your friend".  At the age of 7, when AG dolls are quite the center of her attention right now, I am pretty sure it was extremely hard to put on a genuine smile.  I was so proud of her because she didn't get all pouty like I have seen in the past.  She was very excited for her friend, and did her very best to "hold it all together".

Her sweet friend let her hold the doll, put on its ice skates, and even carry it out to the car when we were all finished.  It was a huge learning and growing experience for my daughter.  When we were alone, she did tell me that she was super disappointed about not winning.  I told her that it was normal to feel envious, but it was also important to be happy for someone else.   Someday it might just be her.