When I take my children shopping, they always manage to fall in love with something. Usually it's something on those darned impulse buy racks by the checkout counter - those things are a trap! Try telling a 3-year-old who has fallen in love with an adorable stuffed animal, "No" - it requires superhuman strength. And even if you manage to muster the courage to take a stand, you will probably end up with an embarrassing, noisy tantrum right in the middle of the store.
As a friend puts it, "there’s security footage of me dragging a small child out of every store in town..."
I started telling my kids, "Let's add it to your list", referring to an imaginary wish list that I would then use to help me shop for their birthday / holiday gifts. This satisfied them, but created a new problem: my memory is not very good. Birthdays would come along and I would be racking my brain, trying to remember what things they had been wishing for. We had a few awkward Christmas mornings where my kids would say things like "What about the ___ I asked for?" And then I would remember the myriad times they begged for it in the store, and feel so guilty.
What's a modern mom to do? Create an app, of course!
On a shoestring budget, I designed how I wanted the app to work, gave my plans to a developer, and went through months of back and forth with all sorts of tech issues to get the app to where I felt ready to share it with the world.
The app is called bWISHd - a nod to the way my children seem to get "bewitched" by toys they desperately "wish" to receive.
As you can see in the video, which features my 3-year-old son, the app is simple to use, but powerful. Watch him fall in love with a toy car, then willingly put it back and walk away from it. The app works well because it makes them feel heard and respected. The app teaches deferred gratification, a skill which will empower your children to avoid impulsive decisions throughout their lives. It will also save you money, stress, and clutter.
Because I funded this project using our (limited) household budget, it has meant giving up vacations, eating out at restaurants, and buying only secondhand clothing. It also means that only the iTunes store has the app available as of now, due to a limited budget. But I am confident that this app will help millions of parents all over the world, so I am taking a leap of faith.
Once I hit 5,000 downloads, I promise to make an Android version. Help me get there - try it out today! Only $0.99 in the iTunes store.
Link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bwishd/id1375818132?ls=1&mt=8
Mom Develops App that Ends Store Tantrums!
bWISHd Logo
