Big Spender

I've come to terms with the fact that our weekends are booked solid ALL SUMMER LONG. I will have to be lazy during the week. Which sounds nice, but seems so wrong. Especially, considering it's hard to be lazy during the week, what with all the appointments, chores, errands, etc. What I am trying to say, is that I am coming to terms with the fact that a lazy summer may not be possible. I am learning slowly that as your kids get older, life gets busier. This past weekend was no exception.

I did get to introduce the kids to a new favorite thing. Garage sales! Every year our community has a garage sale weekend where you can drive or walk all over and score some great deals. Oh sure, the kids have been with me when I have gone to garage sales before, but this weekend, I armed them with some of the loose change we had around the house. Now garage sales have a whole different meaning to them.

The kids were fascinated with rummaging through other peoples stuff looking for the perfect treasure. After they got what they thought was the best they could find, they would politely walk up to the person running that sale and ask how much their perfect treasure would cost.

This did cause us to move much slower through each sale. It also cost me the opportunity to score on some of my own great deals. None-the-less it was fun to watch the kids have a good time. The Girl was very careful about what she looked at. She was shopping for stuffed animals and jewelry mostly. The Little Man, he just wanted to buy anything and everything that he could get his grubby little hands on. If it looked like a super hero or anything that could be launched, shot, or used as a laser he wanted it. That's when I realized that it was important to also make sure that they were checking with me first before making any purchases.

The Girl did end up getting a stuffed bunny, a necklace, and a book. The Little Man scored three transformers, a Batman motorcycle thing-y, and a pair of sunglasses. Here's the kicker: The Little Man only spent ten cents.

TEN CENTS.

A DIME.

He would take his new found treasure up to the previous owner and say with the sweetest voice and the cutest of chubby cheeks, "How many of my moneys is this?" And guess what? pretty much everyone would say, "OH! You can just have that one cutey!"

That was it.

Deal made.

Somehow I didn't get the same reaction from my chubbiness.

Or the same sweet voice I used to yell at the kids to stay out of the street.

Plus, I thought it would be weird to ask for stuff with baby talk.

I think being under the age of four had something to do with it too.

Next time I see the perfect treasure for myself, I am sending The Little Man up to the garage sale attendant and have him ask, "How many of my moneys does it take to buy that dresser?"

I'll let you know if it works.