"But I just love books so much!"

My dear child.  This was her statement while standing in the middle of the kids fiction section of Books A Million yesterday.  Tears were rolling down her face so much that she needed to remove her glasses to get the puddles that had welled up underneath them.

I kid you not.  My child loves books.  That, my friends, is not a bad thing.

We'll rewind it to a few days before.  You see, K took part in the library reading program and read for  a half hour 108 days in a row.  I never have to ask the child to read.  She reads all of the time.  When we turned her slip in for the last time, they said that she was the only one to turn the slip in for 108 days of reading.  When we received a call from the library saying that K had won a prize in the reading program, I wasn't at all surprised.  I mean, obviously her chances were pretty good.  I told the caller that we'd be there straight away since K would be so excited.  When we went, they gave her a bag with some toys, allowed her to choose two books from their giveaway bin (Ramona and her Mother and Fudge-A-Mania) and told her that there was a gift card to Books A Million included.  She was thrilled!

I decided that the end of the week provided a perfect opportunity to take K to use her gift card.  It said it was for $5.00 and she had a few dollars that were floating around the top of her desk.  We set off to the store, K made herself at home in the children's fiction section and went to town.  I had to be the mama who broke her heart and told her that she had $7.00 and needed to stay in limit.

"But Mom, I'm not being unthankful.  It's just so hard to choose because the books here are a little pricey."

"I know, but there are plenty of things to choose from.  I'll let you hang out and look to see what you can find.  I'll roam around and come back for you in a few."

I found that Al Jourgensen wrote a book.  I spent some time reading the jacket.  (Hubs and I discussed needing to see if the library has it for the Kindle.)  When I returned to K, that was when the tears were flowing.  The child was overwhelmed.  I had her go from shelf to shelf with me to show me the books she was considering.  I pulled them from the shelves and the total came to 6.  By the power invested in me, I used my mommyness to deny 2 of those books (Captain Underpants and a Jessie book).  It took her down to a Geronimo Stilton book, Double Fudge, Humphrey the Hamster book and a Ramona book of sorts.  We sat down on the floor and she got that paired down to two.  I told her that once I re-shelved those, I would come back and she would need to have made a decision.   She decided to go with the hamster book.   (Surprise, surprise!)  She apologized for being such a mess and I told her that I understand and appreciate her love for books.  "I just didn't want to leave any of them behind!"  I trust the girl.  She'll be like Rory Gilmore.  Later on in life, she'll be on a date and pull a book out if things start to get boring.

We went to the register.  There was a line.  There was also discounted books on the wall behind the sales associates.  Good love, there was a Big Nate back there.  It was marked down to $3.97.  I gulped, then I called it to K's attention.  She does love herself some Big Nate.  She decided to switch the book.  It's all good.  She went to the associate, asked for Big Nate, exchanged Humphrey and all was well, right?

"Ma'am, this card is for $10.00."

"Are you sure?  It said $5.00."

"Yes, I'm positive.  I see it says $5.00, but it is $10.00."

I looked at K and laughed.  "You know K, it would have been a lot easier to choose but if you'd like to get the hamster book, you have enough money."

And she did.  She left with Big Nate and Humphrey and all is well.  She even left with a mustache button for her school sweater.

Bless her heart and those crocodile tears.  My girl DOES love her books.  Allow me not to stand in the way of that love.