I got to keep it as a backup by letting her shoot it. Actually I gave her the choice of the D5100 and the D7000 when I bought my D7100 and she chose the D7000. She really does a good job with it. I bought her a 18-200 to use on it so she does not have to change lenses.
Once you get many Nikons set up, you can save those settings on the memory card. It can then be transferred to your computer and reinstalled at any time.