The Golden Ticket Bribe

Remember how I said nothing I did could convince Alex to cooperate at a professional photography studio? She would refuse to even approach the setting. One day, just to humor myself, I started asking Alex what it would take for her to pose for a professional photographer. I was going through the list: "Would you let the lady take a picture of you if I got you a treat?", or "What if I got you a new ball?", "Would you do it for a new Barbie?", "What about a new baby doll?", "A crib or stroller for your baby doll?". You know, just cause I was curious to see if anything would work, but didn't have any real hope whatsoever. And I know it's shameless to bribe like this, but I figure it's okay for pictures... if only I could get it to work! So to each of my questions her answers became more adamant and more stressed out: "No Mommy! I no want to take pictures! No!" I kept asking the questions and almost fell off my chair when Alex all of a sudden responded excitedly, "Yes! I do it!" My mind raced to remember what it was I had just offered... then it clicked: Alex would cooperate for pictures if I got her a new dress for her doll, Lisbeth. I keep underestimating her love for her American Girl doll. But now that I've found the golden ticket bribe, I won't be forgetting it any time soon. Her whole demeanor had changed... she was bubbly and excited and said, "We go take pictures now? And we go get dress for Lisbeth? Okay! Let's go!!!" I was on the phone so fast, dialing the number to the studio to see if they could squeeze us in. I dressed the girls in a flash and we rushed over there. You could tell that once there in the studio, Alex felt anxious and very uncomfortable. But I kept reminding her, "After we're done here, we're going to go get Lisbeth a new dress!" That would make her squeel with delight and that's how we got every one of these huge smiles. But I'm going to pretend that they're smiling solely because they love each other so much.

When we were done, Alex said, "Oh, I so excited!!! We go get dress for Lisbeth!!" We went to The Quilted Bear and I was so happy with her efforts, I let her get the matching Cinderella dress for herself and for Lisbeth. When we got home she immediately put them on and she and Lisbeth took turns telling each other how beautiful they look.