How Imelda Got Started.

My Littlest Girl and I went to Target yesterday. She needed a new pair of shoes. Well, if you know me at all, "need" is a subjective word. But she is finicky about her shoes, and her favorite pair had fallen apart, and every day we have struggled as she looks in her closet with 10 pairs of shoes and declared she doesn't have any. So, for "Mommy Time," we went to find shoes. I let her pick them out. She chose disco ball mary janes. It was all good.

While we were there, I met a Grandma and her Grandbaby. Grandbaby was about three. Grandma was pushing Grandbaby in the cart. As they were walking down the aisle, Grandma asked, "Do you like these shoes? Do you like those shoes? Which ones do you like?" I smiled and made some comment about our little ones choosing their own shoes. She replied, "Well, I bought her those Skecher Twinkle Toes after she swore she'd wear them. She wore them once, and won't put them on again!" (At that point I offered to buy them from her, but she declined. "Grandbaby might still wear them sometime.")

Side note: My Littlest Girl is picky, too. (see above.) She is picky because she gets blisters very easily, which is why I refrain from buying her $40 shoes. Although she does have a tendency to like the hand me down Stride Rites and Pedipeds she receives.

So I turned my attention towards My Littlest Girl, and watched the two out of the corner of my eye. Presently, the Mom appeared. She had in her hand some fairy dolls. She proceeded to say to Grandma and Grandbaby, "I think we should only get one treat this time. Honey, would you like the dolls or some shoes?" Grandbaby picked dolls. So Mom put them in her cart, and disappeared again.

The minute she left, I overheard Grandma say, "So, Honey, would you like these shoes? Do you like white? Pink? Oh, these are cute!"

And as My Littlest Girl and I rounded the corner to leave, I heard Imelda Marcos laughing in the distance.

Two Feet

My Indian Princess has decided to blow through her size 1 shoes in a couple of months. I'm officially moving her to a size 2. Good thing I buy ahead. Did I mention she's FIVE?

Breakthrough!!

Today was a monumental day.

Today, I took the kids shopping. And they lasted 6 hours! That's right. SIX hours. We never get out of the house early. And at least one of them naps on a daily basis. Usually around 2:00. So generally we get about two hours in before someone has a meltdown.

But today was different.

We still got a late start. BUT.

We:

1) Hit Lowe's for a lamp shade, landscaping rocks, and window shopping on bathroom vanities. The girls had a mahvelous time standing in corner showers and opening/closing the door. Because, you know, they're in an elevator.

2) Hobby Lobby was next. Returned a lamp shade and found cute Father's Day projects. They picked them out. Dad is so blessed to have daughters like them. They were required to keep a body part on the wall at all times during checkout because of all the breakable doo-dads that were calling their names.

3) The mall made for our longest stop.

• Sears for Dad's shirts.
• Bath and Body for smelly goods. And btw, Bath and Body has the BEST employees! While I was wishing for eyes on the side of my head so I could browse AND keep my girls from touching absolutely everything, a wonderful young woman did the unthinkable. She took my girls to the sink, let them choose a soap, and washed their hands for them. Then she asked them how they liked the smell. Then we chose lotion for them. My Indian Princess whispered to me later, "Mom, they were REALLY nice to us!" So thank you, B&B, for making my girls feel valued while giving Mom a little time to focus.
• The Children's Place to find a white shirt for the Littlest Girl. 20 minutes later, no white shirt but three pairs of shoes for a grand total of $18. The girls wore the shoes out of the store. 15 feet later my Littlest Girl was screaming in pain. Back to TCP to exchange them for their rubber fake-Croc mary janes, which I preferred anyway.
• Claires. Ran through it but didn't want to stay too long. Small things have a tendency to disappear or lose parts in my house. Don't.need.more.clutter.
• The Mall Playground!!!! Yay!! The reward for shopping so nicely. Although my Indian Princess is getting noticeably too big for the toddler equipment.
• Gymboree just to see if there was anything good. 99 cent tights were totally worth the stop. As was the TV in the back for my girls to watch so I could browse. Seriously. Marketing genius. Anyway. Talked to a woman scouring the clearance racks for her little girl. They are moving to Alaska in TWO days and she needed more winter stuff. (Remind me NEVER to complain about SoDak winters again.) She was moving to Kodiak Island. They JUST got a Walmart. All other shopping requires a ferry or plane ride. I gave her a few helpful hints about shopping online. Poor girl. She needs all the help she can get.
• Back through Sears to get to the car. But not before a game of Hide and Seek while I made one more scan of the clearance shoes. (I know. It's a sickness.)

4) Sam's Club for staples. You know. 225 paper plates and a 5 lb bag of carrots for my family of four. Milk was a dollar cheaper there than anywhere else, so I felt good about dragging the girls through 1.5 miles of aisles. I also didn't worry too much because they got a root beer float and a cinnamon pretzel out of it. Until my Littlest Girl blew bubbles in the float. Then all she got was a view of her sister finishing the float. If she could see through her tears. She got the last word when the door checker made a smiley face on my receipt as he glanced at it. Then gave it back to her. My Indian Princess was GREEN with envy. I think it was envy. It might have been the float and the pretzel.

5) Drove around some back roads trying to find a place that sells mulch by the truckload. The girls thought it was an adventure. But it disrupted the 25 minute nap I was hoping they would take while we were driving home. As it turned out, they got in a good 10 minutes before we got home. Oh, how I wish they would sleep in the car in our driveway while I put stuff away. But no. The minute the engine is shut off, they are wide-eyed and confused about where they are. They also cry a lot if I happen to walk into the house without them. Because how dare I leave them outside by themselves. Never mind they are outside by themselves for hours during the day playing. I'm sure there's a logic there I'm just not seeing.

So, with their 10 minute nap, they were a tiny bit rough around the edges tonight. But compared to the last 5 years, I was THRILLED. They are becoming such fun people to shop with. They help me pick things out. They steer the cart. They keep each other and myself entertained. I loved this day. And I love these little people I get to hang out with.

How a Trip to Walmart to Buy Milk Turned Into a Hanes Extravaganza

I had to buy three things when I went into Walmart the other night, so I thought it would be safe to bring the girls. Seems to me it was milk, cheese, and bread. I don't know. Something simple and cheap. Everything in the grocery department, so we wouldn't find things to buy at the opposite end of the store. You know. Easy.

So, because it was so easy, and I had a couple of extra bucks, we walked through the girls clothes section. Just to see if there was anything NEEDED that I hadn't thought of. (I'm smirking to myself as I type that.) As we were headed back to the clearance section, (because yes, I am so cheap, I shop the clearance section of Walmart) my Indian Princess finds...wait for it...TINKERBELL JAMMIES! And not the flannel ones for winter, but the sleeveless, shiny nightgown that can only be made from 100% pure polyester! She gasped in delight, then promptly told me she HAD to have it, please?? Please, Mom, Please?? I checked the price tag. $7. A little high for me, but what the heck. It makes her happy. And maybe I can get her to wear pjs to bed if she picks them out. No. She usually doesn't. Especially in the summer.

So, Tinkerbell in the cart, my Littlest Girl asks for a nightgown, too. I would usually be fine with it, but she has M.A.N.Y. nightgowns at home. Including Tinkerbell. I had to say no.

But, next to the jammies, on an end aisle, was a clearance section of tights and panties. The big sign said $1. That is my magic number, so I took a look. The tights were all picked over and Christmassy. I wasn't in the mood for snowflake tights. The panties, however, looked promising. On the shelf, the tag says Hanes 12 pack panties for $5. Not bad. And as much as I like hand-me-downs, my girls do NOT share panties. So I picked up a package for my Littlest Girl.

And because my Littlest Girl had new panties, my Indian Princess needed panties, too. But not the clearance kind. They have to match her new Tinkerbell nightgown. So we head to the underwear section. And of course, they have...wait for it...TINKERBELL PANTIES!! A 6 pack for $7. Why not.

I feel bad. As much as the Littlest Girl liked her panties, the purchases were hardly equal. So we find our way back to the little girl section to go shopping. After much ooohhing and aahhing over Dora swimsuits and Tiana ballet dresses, we find an outfit for her that she loves, and my guilt is eased.

I hurriedly grabbed the milk, cheese and bread before they found something else they liked. As I head to the checkout lane I text my husband. "The Shopping Gene Just Kicked In." We are both worried as to the implications of that. The girls STILL don't know how to use coupons.

I get to the register, dump our purchases on the belt, and pay quickly. As we are walking towards the door, the Indian Princess says she has to go to the bathroom. We change directions and head to the restrooms. As I am pushing the cart, I check my receipt. Everything looks good. But lo, and behold---the 12 pack of Hanes panties rang up for a dollar!! I have won the panties lottery!!!!

I decide we have to go back. After the girls get out of the bathroom, I tell them we need more panties. I want to hurry before the stampede. Or Walmart decides to change the price. So we zoom back there and I pick up a package in every size. When I check out, I have spent $5 on 60 pairs of underwear!! And $7 on 6 pairs of Tinkerbell underwear. (sigh)

As I head home, I second guess myself. Should I have gotten 2 sets of panties in the larger sizes? One for each girl? I will NEVER get a deal like that again. Then I realize I would be storing the largest size panties for my Littlest Girl for at least 8 years. And I let it go. Wistfully.