August 23, 2008
It has been almost thirty years since I headed off to Wal-Mart with my mom to go school shopping. I know that things have changed, and Wal-Mart is significantly less expensive than Limited Too and Macy's, but this is ridiculous. The only school 'supplies' we bought were a lunch box and a backpack. Everything else was clothing. My parents did the best they could, and it was fine for me. Other kids did not see it that way all the time, and I still remember being ridiculed for not having fashionable clothing. As a result, Annie benefits from an abnormal break down in my typical penny-pinching.
To start at the beginning of our excursion, I have to go back to yesterday. I had to get up before midnight Pacific time to be sure I could make my plane out of Detroit. I struggle to sleep on airplanes, and never get quality sleep. I drift off for a few minutes and wake up feeling pain in joints I didn't even know were there. Consequently, when I picked up Annie around noon, I was already beat. This was compounded by the fact I didn't sleep much in Detroit. Not because I was out having a raucous good time, but because I just couldn't sleep... for four nights. So, my plans for going grocery shopping and beginning clothing shopping were cut to just groceries. I might have let that one go as well, but there was virtually no food in the house. $200 and a couple hours later we arrived home. The rest of the day was spent slowly unpacking, putting away groceries, playing, and eating pizza while watching Psych compliments of the DVR. Annie was struggling with the realization that the schedule had changed back to the 'school routine,' and so I let her leave her bed and sleep in mine after we talked about it. Her frustration was probably compounded by the fact that she had also not slept much the previous night.
This morning the adventure began. We pulled out all her clothes and went through what fit, what was too stained to where to school, what was in good shape but had been assigned to her list of clothes she never wanted to wear again, and made a list of what we needed. It actually wasn't as bad as I had expected, but I knew it was going to be expensive when I saw that she had no jeans left at all. She is as hard to fit with decent jeans as I am, so they are not cheap. We could not find any long sleeve shirts, which was high on my list of priorities, because no one stocks them until it actually gets cold. Why would anyone want to plan for that sort of thing? Everyone is an impulse buyer wanting what is necessary only for right now, right?
Anyway, our school booty ended with:
3 short-sleeved shirts
4 jeans
1 pair of shorts
1 pair of capris
a bunch of socks
2 pairs of shoes
1 backpack
1 lunchbox
1 cami
for a grand total of about $350.
To make me even more concerned... maybe that is not the word. Hmmm... To increase my anxiety at how fast she is maturing, many of her shirts proudly indicate some sort of built in bra support construction. I am not quite ready for that, yet. Despite the fact that she chastises me if I dance or sing as we walk to class because it is embarrassing (what if people see?), she still has no issue with holding my hand as we go to class. I know I don't have much more time with that, and I plan on enjoying every single time she permits it.
Dealing with Inflation or just Spoiling?
To start at the beginning of our excursion, I have to go back to yesterday. I had to get up before midnight Pacific time to be sure I could make my plane out of Detroit. I struggle to sleep on airplanes, and never get quality sleep. I drift off for a few minutes and wake up feeling pain in joints I didn't even know were there. Consequently, when I picked up Annie around noon, I was already beat. This was compounded by the fact I didn't sleep much in Detroit. Not because I was out having a raucous good time, but because I just couldn't sleep... for four nights. So, my plans for going grocery shopping and beginning clothing shopping were cut to just groceries. I might have let that one go as well, but there was virtually no food in the house. $200 and a couple hours later we arrived home. The rest of the day was spent slowly unpacking, putting away groceries, playing, and eating pizza while watching Psych compliments of the DVR. Annie was struggling with the realization that the schedule had changed back to the 'school routine,' and so I let her leave her bed and sleep in mine after we talked about it. Her frustration was probably compounded by the fact that she had also not slept much the previous night.
This morning the adventure began. We pulled out all her clothes and went through what fit, what was too stained to where to school, what was in good shape but had been assigned to her list of clothes she never wanted to wear again, and made a list of what we needed. It actually wasn't as bad as I had expected, but I knew it was going to be expensive when I saw that she had no jeans left at all. She is as hard to fit with decent jeans as I am, so they are not cheap. We could not find any long sleeve shirts, which was high on my list of priorities, because no one stocks them until it actually gets cold. Why would anyone want to plan for that sort of thing? Everyone is an impulse buyer wanting what is necessary only for right now, right?
Anyway, our school booty ended with:
3 short-sleeved shirts
4 jeans
1 pair of shorts
1 pair of capris
a bunch of socks
2 pairs of shoes
1 backpack
1 lunchbox
1 cami
for a grand total of about $350.
To make me even more concerned... maybe that is not the word. Hmmm... To increase my anxiety at how fast she is maturing, many of her shirts proudly indicate some sort of built in bra support construction. I am not quite ready for that, yet. Despite the fact that she chastises me if I dance or sing as we walk to class because it is embarrassing (what if people see?), she still has no issue with holding my hand as we go to class. I know I don't have much more time with that, and I plan on enjoying every single time she permits it.
Dealing with Inflation or just Spoiling?