4-yr-old bought her dream ‘wicked princess’ dress with her savings — one realization at checkout left her emotional
Adulting and becoming independent can be a surprisingly hard adjustment for many people. However, for one four-year-old, the reality hit a little too hard and a little too early after she bought a princess dress with her own money. The girl and her six-year-old sister were shopping at Target when they spotted a "Wicked" princess dress they liked. They were excited to buy the dresses with their money. However, when it was time to pay at the self-checkout, the little girl, Everly, was left in tears, per a TikTok video by her mom, Alison Shoemaker, who goes by @alisonshoemaker on the platform. The clip received over 44.8 million views.
As the girl finished paying for the dress at the self-checkout with her dad's help, she was in tears. "Did I just spend all of my money on a dress?" a teary-eyed Everly questioned. Her dad tried to reassure her that she still had some money left. "Look at that. You still have four bucks left." However, the girl was inconsolable as she remarked, "But that's all my money, though." The caption read, "Target does it every time. Not a fan of using our own money, Dad's wallet is so much better." The family had stopped at Target on their way from dinner, per PEOPLE. The girls saw the princess dresses and had their own purses. So they wanted to buy the dress for themselves with their own money.
"The dresses were $21 each and they wanted to do self-checkout all by themselves, so of course we let them. My older daughter went first and paid with a $20 and a $5, so she got some change back. Then my younger daughter, Everly, went to pay — but she was using all $1 bills," Alison recounted. She started putting the money in the machine, but as she kept going, she was heartbroken to learn that she wouldn't be getting any change back. "My parents, my husband and I all looked at each other in disbelief, then started cracking up. It was one of those moments that was sad but funny — and so relatable. I think most women have felt that exact same way at Target."
The mom shared that her daughters don't get an allowance as they are really young. But they get to keep their birthday and holiday card money in their wallets. "Everly has the sweetest heart and will always offer to pay for everything or buy a special treat for the people she loves. We always thank her for the offer, but tell her to keep her money for herself. So buying that princess dress was the first time she really spent her own money," Alison explained. People pointed out how they could totally relate to the little girl's sentiment in the comments section of the TikTok video.
@northern415 wrote, "My Daughter did this and she's like I'm going to put it back. I'm like cool, that’s fine, but I’m not buying it for you. So she learned that if she wanted something, she was gonna have to buy it with her money." @leah.simone_ commented, "This is me when I go out with my dad and he makes me pay for things with my own money. Knowing he got a black card in this wallet." @jaymaymarie remarked, "My son had a whole meltdown because I told him if he wanted the toy so bad, he would have to use his money on the Greenlight card. Mind you, it's $300 on there and he was reimbursed." In another video, all the tears were gone and Everly could be seen happily enjoying her princess dress.
You can follow Alison Shoemaker (@alisonshoemaker) on TikTok for more lifestyle content.
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