Parenting!

I don't know for sure what to call this........

We needed dog food so I ran to Walmart with the girls in tow tonight. Sydney brought her birthday money and Sammy brought her tooth fairy money which of course is burning a whole completley through their pockets. I asked both of them if I could carry them so they would not lose them but they both assured me they would be fine and put the money in their pockets or purse. I had a few challenges to face tonight....Sammy had a $1 bill and Sydney had a $20 dollar bill ($16 of which she had left to spend). First you can't even begin to look in the same category of things with one dollar versus twenty dollars.

So we are looking at the toys and all I am hearing is:

Sam:
"I can't buy that I don't have enough money" and

"nope I can't get that either" and

"what am I going to get" and
"it's not fair, sydney has 20 and I have 1"!

Me:
"AHHHH!"
"Sydney just pick"
"Sammy you can save your money and earn more to buy something bigger"
"just wait for the candy aisle"
"you want ANOTHER stuffed animal"

Sydney:
"do I have enough for this"
"what about this"
"I love this dog"
" I am getting this dog and some jewerly"

So finally after a very painful deliberation....back and forth back and forth she decides on ANOTHER stuffed animal dog...(seriously how many can you have) and two pairs of sunglasses (one for the dog mmmm....okay it is your money). We are waiting in line sydney has the $20 dollar bill in her hand. I realized I forgot something for Zack so we head back to the aisle grab it and go back to line. Sammy pays for her $1 candy, Syd is all rung up and CANNOT find the $20 bill. We check every pocket in our vicinity...my 6 pockets, her 6 pockets and Sammy's 6 pockets (just in case you are wondering 4 pant + 2 coat pockets) and no twenty dollar bill. We don't know if she dropped it or stashed in some secret pocket. I asked the cashier to cancel it out paid for my items and we go on a search. No $20 bill. The realization has now sunk in that she has no money to pay for the items in her hand and her heart breaks. She didn't cry like a tantrum cry but a seriously heartbroken cry.
What do I do? I am angry that she lost it... but I am also super sad for her. I know it was an accident but how do they learn if they don't lose something so important that they are super careful to not do it again. So at that moment I had to decide do I walk out of the store empty handed or pay for her?

I unfortunately paid for her and hope that that $20 bill will turn up. I say unfortunately because I feel like I caved, but yet how could I leave that store without those things. I can certainly justify it...it was her birthday money, she didn't mean to, I should have taken it and put it in my wallet and it took us FOREVER to choose something but in all honestly I should have walked out the door and let her learn the hard way. Justifications aside I know there is going to be some tough calls in parenting and I have got to be ready to make those calls even when it isn't going to be what they want to hear.