Whoop, There It Goes

Tell me, tell me truly that you can’t relate to this guest post. She’s the fabulous lady behind According to Chip and Bobo. She’s warm, friendly and she cracks me up. But then, I’m her Fairy Blogmother. A poor one but one nonetheless.

But, you’ll see from her piece below, which I relate to so strongly, that her writing and wit her divine. So instead, let’s talk about her graphic design. She’s got a great eye and an even better ear – so she can carefully listen to give you exactly what you want. Just check out the freshly released Multitasking Mumma – redesign courtesy of Booyah’s Momma. She’s worth every penny.
Which is a compliment her guest post below tells me she’d like.
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Because before we had kids, I used to embrace shopping.

I used to love going to the mall, where I would swoon over the latest fashions, the designer shoes, and the cute purses. Before we had to worry about such things as college funds or pint-sized clothes that were instantaneously outgrown, the mall was one of my favorite hangouts.

But now, I find shopping painful.

Maybe it’s because my money goes towards different things now. Like the fact that, every month, I spend close to $80 on boxes of Winnie-the-Pooh-adorned cotton and paper that will be pooped on and disposed of.

Whoop, there it goes.

Or the oodles of money we seem to spend on laundry detergent and other household cleaning supplies for chores I don’t really like doing in the first place.

Yep. Whoop, there it goes.

The truth is: I’ve become kind of a cheapskate in my later years. I like my money. I work hard for it. I just wished it like me enough to want to stay with me longer.

So, for me, a trip to the mall does not hold the glory it used to.

I was reminded of this fact a few weekends ago when I took the kidlets shopping. Our sole mission? To buy new shoes for my daughter, Bobo. (I swear, that kid’s feet seem to grow almost as fast as the number of entries in my Google Reader.)

But when we got there, I realized my first blunder. I had forgotten to pack the stroller. Which meant I had two choices:

a) Attempt to carry one or more wiggling rugrats through the mall.
b) Attempt to simultaneously contain and maneuver them both by foot through the throngs of people.

As neither of these choices sounded particularly appealing to me, I went with Option C. I sprung for one of those firetruck-shaped-monstrosities that masquerades as a double stroller at the mall. Option C cost me $8 bucks.

Whoop, there it goes.

But we were on our way.

Alas, not more than 50 yards into our shopping adventure, we were ambushed by one of those kiosk vendors in the middle of the mall. It was the lotion lady. Being the sucker that I am, I stopped and tried some. And I had to admit, it was good stuff. My hands felt smooth and silky. It smelled nice.

When I asked how much it was, I was blown away when she told me it was only $40 for a 8 oz. container. Or if I wanted to, I could purchase a year’s supply of creamy goodness for the bargain price of $140. And she’d throw in an organic loofah. But only because she thought my kids were cute.

Whoop, there it is.

I picked my jaw up off the floor, politely declined, and quickly maneuvered our firetruck monstrosity of a stroller to the other end of the mall. Finally, we made it to the shoe department. Safe from any more painful shopping decisions. Or, so I thought.

Fortunately, Bobo had already made up her mind which pair of shoes she wanted. Apparently, all the rage in preschool is something called Twinkle Toes. One of her friends had a pair, and they’re the coolest things ever. Or so I’d been told countless times.

Finally. An easy decision.

Until I saw the price tag, that is. 50 bones. For a pair of shoes that would be outgrown in a couple of months.

At this point, my inner cheapskate was having a serious overload. I couldn’t process. $8 for a stroller rental? $140 for lotion? $50 for shoes?

In my mind, I had just one thought: Whoop, there it goes.

I put down the shoes, and said I’d mull it over while we went and got something to eat.

So we went to the food court and grabbed a hot dog. Which cost $7.50.

Whoop, there it goes.
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Now speed on over to check out According to Chip and Bobo. Or Booyah’s Momma design. I’m not biased, I love both.