Saving the planet one fake fur coat collar at a time

So, my daughter has a deep and profound love for all things warm and fuzzy and all things cold and scaly...basically anything she classifies as an animal. After quizzing her about bugs and spiders, I found they don't necessary qualify for the same level of intense adoration, but she likes them, too.

I've known this for awhile, but over the past 4 to 6 months, it has been taken to a whole new level. She's on the verge of being an animal activist, seriously. at 7 years old. She is drawn to t-shirts about saving animals, she has watched just enough Discovery or Animal Planet to know that there are people out there who are harming animals for what she deems to be no good reason. She is quizzing her Poppa on his hunting habits to make sure he isn't killing anything that he doesn't plan on eating. Where she got it, I honestly don't know...we recycle, we talk about being good to our planet, but we aren't what I'd call hard-core PETA members or anything.

And then...Friday. A needed a new winter coat. I had found some at Old Navy on sale that I thought were cute, but was shopping around, trying to be thrifty and smart...so we went to Target with Grandma. We came across another coat I liked but I was describing the Old Navy coats to Grandma to get her opinion. The moment it came out of my mouth, A was snapping her fingers and telling me how it was...I told Grandma that the coats had fur around the hood. A's words, as she waved her finger in the air...."Uh uh, Momma...no fur coats for me. I don't want anything on my coat where they killed an animal for no reason."

I sat in stunned silence for a minute and then had to desperately try to keep the laughter from bursting out...I gently tried to explain it wasn't real fur, it was fake fur and that no animals died in the making of those coats....it didn't matter to A...."I don't want it to even look like it might be real...people shouldn't kill animals for no good reason, Momma."

Alrighty, then....you go, girl....you stand up for your beliefs, even if it's one fake fur coat collar at a time.