April 11, 2005
It would seem that my excitement at having "ALL THIS EXTRA MONEY!" from my new job at the Clare is somewhat short-lived, following the realization yesterday that an $8 shirt, an $8 skirt, two $13 pairs of shoes, and a $17 swimsuit (with skirt!) still - although reasonably priced, in my opinion - add up to more than $60 after taxes. My intention was to get Maddie a bit more set for spring/summer than she currently is. Pre-yesterday's trip, she only had about 3 or 4 t-shirts, and no swimsuit (a must-have for this weekend's trip to Mom's). Her feet decided to grow another inch exactly one week after I bought her last pair of shoes, and she also absolutely HAD TO HAVE these shoes:
and this pillow:
Totally worth it, I know. The pillow was the only item of question on our excursion, and my normally strict sense of "needs" vs. "wants" did prevail for, oh, about 45 seconds. The second I started to walk away from the pillows, Maddie burst into tears and said, "MOOOM! THERE'S ONLY TWO PILLOWS! WHAT IF JULI COMES AND BUYS THEM FIRST AND THERE AREN'T ANY MORE PILLOWS FOR ME FOREVER AND EVER??!!" While I tried to explain to her that there are more pillows in the storage area of the store, they just didn't have room to put them all out here, and yes, I'm sure there will be more pillows here the next time we come to Target, and now that I think about it, how 'bout you just ask good ol' Dad to buy you one next time he brings you to Target? (not to mention, since when does Juliana have a job? 'Cause I know her mama ain't buyin' ALL of these damn pillows)..., she simply looked into one of the zebra-striped cosmetic travel mirrors on the shelf and watched her own tear slowly trickle down her cheek to get lost in the creases of her grimacing mouth.
Fine.
We'll get the goddamn pillow.
I don't mind buying my daughter occasional "wants." In fact, I enjoy buying her presents. But my point is this: if it costs over $50 for the shirt, skirt, shoes, and swimsuit alone, how am I expected to purchase an entire spring/summer wardrobe? Something has to change, short of staging a retail revolution this season (although I'm not ruling that one out), and I am totally dreading the conversation I'll need to have.
YIPPEE!!! Time for Grandma to go shopping. Gift card to Target sound nice?
Love,
Mom
You weren't kidding when you said she was finally entering that frilly girly phase. Look at those shoes! Juliana would be oh-so-jealous.
I welcome you to the land of Girl Power. It takes a while to adjust but we've fully embraced it over here.
Posted by: tracey at April 11, 2005 11:37 AM