Things vs Experiences

Our children have different personalities in many ways. One difference is that Mason enjoys things. He likes to have something to show for what he's done that day, something tangible, something he can keep. His first concern when we go somewhere (which we do a lot) is what he gets to keep. Whether it is a toy, a picture, a ticket, or even a random brochure he picks up along they way, as long as he has something in his hand at the end of the day, he is happy. I used to get frustrated and feel like my child was just extremely spoiled and greedy, but I am starting to realize that his real motivation for acting this way is that the most important part of an experience for him is having something to show for it and remember it by. We have found that pictures are the easiest and cheapest way to meet this need. Whether it's taking a picture of something he wants to remember, printing out a picture from the internet when we get home, or drawing a picture to represent what he experienced. By understanding his motives I feel like we have been able to help him come up with reasonable, albeit sometimes odd, solutions that fill this need of his without spoiling him rotten.
Brynn on the other hand enjoys experiences. She lives in the moment and likes to get out and do things. Every day when we are getting ready she asks, "Where are we going?" If I don't have an answer for her she will start throwing out suggestions, "Maybe we can go to...." Most of the time she isn't too picky about the destination as long as we are going somewhere or doing something, preferably something hands on. I love her enthusiasm for experiencing things. My mom often says Brynn gets her adventurous spirit from me and my dad. She doesn't seem to care much about things. When we give each of the kids a quarter for the quarter machines, Mason will always choose the toy and Brynn will go for the candy. It's funny because I've heard Mason try to change Brynn's mind by saying, "Brynn if you get the candy you won't have anything to keep."  While Mason will carry a random trinket around for days, Brynn's will rarely make it into the house, but will be left in the car, forgotten. The kids both love coloring, but Brynn enjoys it for the actual experience of coloring and could care less about the picture when it's done where Mason colors for the end product of a nicely colored picture to keep in one of his ever growing books of pictures.
Last week we had an experience that illustrates this difference perfectly.  My mom took Brynn and Kennedy to the play Sleeping Beauty at Hale Center Theater. Mason didn't want to go because it was a princess play. He didn't feel left out at all when Grandma came and got Brynn or when Brynn was gone for hours, but when Brynn came home with a program and there wasn't one for him, he came unglued. He cried and sobbed about how Grandma doesn't love him because she didn't get a program for him and it's not fair that Brynn got a program and he didn't. It went on and on until later that afternoon when Brynn had completely forgotten about her program so Mason claimed it for himself. What a weirdo.