The Time I Discovered She Does Listen To Me
When you're 8 years old, magic takes the form of a mysterious and unexpected envelope bearing your name. The magic grows legs when the envelope contains a birthday card and a little bit of money.
"Mom, can we go to the mall? PLEEEEASE!" the 8-year old pleaded.
I'm not one to ruin the magic, so of course I agreed. Off to the mall we ran with Alexis tightly clutching her purse and her newly gifted $25. She requested a specific mall, so I assumed I knew what would happen when we began to walk from store-to-store.
I was wrong.
While I was certain the money would be swapped for some magic at Justice or Ruum, Alexis instead asked if we could walk a bit further. Just a few more steps to a store she had only been in once or twice, but apparently an impression had been made.
Abercrombie. The kid version, which, yes, it does exist. It carries sizes 8-16 for little girls.
I KNOW. I KNOW. It seems like a terrible idea, but I have discovered that buried in the obnoxiousness of the overpriced, loud, and ridiculously sexually charged store, there are some gems. In fact, Alexis constantly wears a pink with white polka-dotted sheer shirt that I found on clearance there. Even on clearance it was a bit expensive, but she treasures that shirt SO much.
Eventually she will outgrow the shirt, but only after showing it much love. When that day happens, I'll take it to a resale shop and recoup nearly every penny I paid. It's a pattern of behavior I've fallen into -- I buy high-end clearance items and then sell them for nearly what I paid. It's my own very special form of magic.
But Alexis had her own magic that day. She continued to clutch her purse as she walked from rack-to-rack. I stood back and let her explore, wondering what she thought she could get for $25 at THAT store.
She found them. The jeans. She found the jeans she had spotted a month before when we had walked through the same store. The jeans had been moved from a rack at the front of the store to a table near the back, but she found them.
"Momma, are these on sale?" she asked.
I swallowed my beam of pride. "Ummm, yeah. Actually they are," I told her as I glanced at the sign on the table. "They're $20, see?" I said as I pointed.
TWENTY DOLLARS. FOR JEANS. AT ABERCROMBIE. They were originally marked $80, which BWAHAHAHA! That's just funny right there.
The beam of pride threatened to escape as Alexis dug through the pile and found her size. "Good!" she said. "I have enough money left to get a shirt, too!"
I stood there in awe as Alexis found an entire rack of shirts each marked under $10. "Momma, can I borrow $3? I want this shirt, but it's $8."
Obviously she has no problem with math, and even less of a problem depending on the Bank of Mom. That's OK, though, because $28. SHE FOUND AN ENTIRE OUTFIT AT ABERCROMBIE FOR $28. I handed Alexis $5 and waited as she paid.
There are lessons we all try to teach our kids, but we really can't be sure if they "get it" or not. I guess now I can safely say that Alexis does get my philosophy towards shopping -- find the best bargains at better stores.
But that's not all.
The real magic happened as we were walking out of the store. "Mom, I like that store, but they have the dumbest bags EVER. Those boys need to button their shirts."
Yes, yes they do. And ... BAM! Two lessons mastered in one day.
(But, seriously, Abercrombie Kids. If you're going to carry sizes 8-16, lose the sex appeal on the bags thing. It's not the right place or time.)
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Reader Comments (5)
hahaha! She's awesome. I love her. I wish you lived closer so we could go bargain-hunting together with our respective little smarty-pants.
your girl is truly an amazing creature. so much love for her.
I love that she was looking for bargains! My kinda girl! What resale shop do you go to? I'm looking to get rid of some kids clothes.
You need to run a kids' summer camp where you can successfully teach All The Magic to the next generation. Because that? Is too much awesome to keep to yourselves!
Very impressive bargain shopping! And yes, Alexis, they need to button their shirts. Seriously.