consignment wrap-up

It was a site to behold for any bargain hunter. As I stood in wait, literally like a cheetah stalking her prey, droves of shoppers hustled in and out of the church hall. My eyes grew large watching sweet children’s tables, gently loved ride on toys, breast pumps, and infant swings being loaded into trunks. The (mostly) women carried laundry baskets and LL Bean totes of spectacular merch with smiles that screamed, “I just scored big!” I was happy for the few minutes by the road waiting for my mother to arrive. It gave me time to refresh my memory about what we were looking for, to remind myself of my strict budget, and to flex my hanger flipping fingers.

We were specifically looking for bottoms and outfits for school. In fifteen minutes flat we had together scoured both the 2T and 3T racks and adjourned to a secluded weeding out area to edit our purchases carefully. We ohh’d and ahh’d together. A woman next to us watched our little fashion show remarking that she wished she could do this with her daughter who lives in Africa. I caught my mother's eys and our silent smiles recognized how lucky we were to be able to do this fun thing together. The shopping gene has most certainly been passed down and I assure you, it has been passed to Caroline as well. She would have been pulling stuff off those racks with reckless abandon. We’ll work on her editing.

All told we nabbed 3 pants, 9 shorts, several outfits, 3 dresses, and a pink eyelet beach hat.

Now I know I wasn’t technically allowed to buy dresses, but two are perfect for a hot day at school; cotton and comfy. The other one, well, I just could not leave it there; A-line with cherries. Cherries.

We estimated our savings to be over 300 dollars. I laugh in the face of retail. Now, the constant reminders to myself that she has enough clothes for the summer must begin. She definitely has all she needs and then some, except for shoes (white sandals, crocs, flips), pjs, Red Sox ts (we can't get them down here), and maybe hair bows. There is always something else isn’t there? And I am all too happy to hunt for it.