Goodbye “Molly Money”. You will be missed in this house. So what is “Molly Money”? It is money my daughter was saving to buy the American Girl Doll Molly.
This fall my daughter, then almost 6, discovered American Girl dolls. While my Mom & I were trying to pick which of the My American Girl dolls most resembled my daughter, she decided she wanted Kanani, the 2011 Girl of the Year and that the Historical Doll Molly (1944) was her second choice. She loves that the dolls already have names and stories. She loves that they come with books. Santa brought Kanani for Christmas and for her birthday in early January she even received Kanani’s Shaved Ice Stand.
She has loved Kanani, but she has always had a draw to Molly. At school library this year, she kept checking out the Molly series of books. She doesn’t read the books cover to cover, but she does page through them and read parts of them. She also loves the movie Molly – An American Girl on the Home Front. None of the other American Girl movies have captured her 
attention, but she watches the Molly movie over and over.
She started wearing her hair in braids like Molly (and Annie from Magic Tree House, another favorite book series). Then right before Easter she got glasses – like Molly. She tried to use that as a reason to get Molly. She asked “Since I have glasses like Molly now will you buy her for me?” Nice try, your treat for getting glasses are the glasses. That day, she happened to receive Easter cards from her great-grandmothers with some cash in them. I told her she could start saving money to buy Molly for herself. Not even 3 months later and she has done it (including some money that was in her piggy bank before she started).
On Sunday, my parents & I took her to American Girl Place in Chicago so that she could buy Molly. Of course the trip included a few extra treats beyond her doll purchase. We did the trip in a day, since we didn’t have time to make a vacation out of it until August. It was a long day, but definitely doable from Ann Arbor and more special than ordering her doll online. I’ll be writing up a trip report separately.
Saving to buy the doll was a great experience for her. She saved any money that she was given during the last few months. We also gave her the opportunity to earn money by doing jobs. For example, she helped me spread mulch, she helped me make strawberry jelly, etc. We also found that if she was hesitant to try something (for example swimming with her face in the water), that she would try it with the promise of Molly Money. The dollar we gave her for trying that was far cheaper than a swim lesson. Also, we typically let her pick out a gift for the end of school. This year, she opted for Molly Money (which is what put her over the top).
She has done a great job with saving her money and not spending it. Saving for such an expensive item, has also given her a good understanding of what things cost and that we need to take care of them. When she was swinging a yo-yo near the TV, I explained that it was worth 10 Mollys and she immediately understood she needed to be careful.
Yesterday, I asked her what she was going to save for now. She’s says she wants to save for an Emily doll (Molly’s friend) although she also wants the Girl of the Year, McKenna. Her current plan is to ask for McKenna for Christmas and save for Emily.
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