Retail Therapy
Master sent me off today to engage in some retail therapy. He specifically told me to buy three NEW coats (a winter coat, a dressy coat and a windbreaker) but I talked him into at least letting me scout out the thrift store before hitting the mall.
What can I say? I’m cheap, man.
So, us four girls (me, jes, am and babygirl) headed out to Goodwill.
Our haul:
I got the 3 coats (including a Pelle hip length leather jacket), 2 books, and a purse.
Am got 4 shirts, a pair of jeans and a hoodie.
Jes got a coat, 7 shirts, 5 pairs of earrings and a pleather jacket.
Babygirl got 2 pairs of pajamas, 2 bundles of socks (about 10 pair), 2 pairs of shoes, 3 toys and a spring cap.
Total cost: $114.37
I couldn’t have gotten three new coats for that amount.
B-man, who is pickier about his clothes than most girls and who will only wear black band tees, ordered 4 t-shirts off the net for a total cost of just over $100.
4 shirts. Almost the same price as our haul.
Srsly. Thrift stores FTW!
I really like to use the line “Look how much money I saved you by spending money, honey!” It makes me feel deliciously, naughtily vanilla.
Good day.
Jes and I had a chance to clear some bad air that’s been lingering between us for the last week or so. So much of parenting is a learning process, trial and error, learning from mistakes, and she is no exception. At just 18, she has a LOT to learn. I’m finding it difficult to step back and let her do that.
Because I live here and because it’s all right in my face day in and day out, I don’t know how to watch Babygirl “suffer”** and not step in or take over or give (unwanted) advice. Half the time I’m arguing with myself, telling myself that she needs to do it her way, and then telling myself that since she lives here with US, she has to make allowances for the rest of the people in the house and if she wants to do it “her way” she needs to move out. But she can’t move out, not yet, so I’m right back to trying to figure out how to find a way for her to be the parent she wants to be while also not disrupting the lives of everyone else in the house.
Anyway, I’d snapped at her over something or other last week, having just had my fill of holding it all in, and since then we’ve pretty much ignored each other. Today we talked about it and vowed to be easier on each other.
(** Babygirl never suffers in the true sense of the word. Because I happen to think she poops rainbows, when she’s unhappy, I’m unhappy. Sometimes, it truly is a matter of Jes just not knowing what to do. Other times, babies are just fussy.)
I imagine this sort of thing will continue until she moves out. I don’t see a solution. The living situation throws my roles in both of their lives into turmoil.
Even with all of that though, I’m still focusing on the silver lining. There’s something about being a grandparent that just blows parenting out of the water. I don’t know if it’s age, if it’s the continuation of life (which, let’s face it, is pretty fucking cool) or what it is. All I know is that focusing on the negatives is a waste of time when I have this beautiful and delightful baby cooing up at me.
She learned to blow raspberries today. She’s sort of waving hi and bye. And she’s still just hours away from crawling. She gets up on her hands and knees and rocks back and forth, makes a shaky move forward and then drops to an army crawl. Any minute now she’ll be mobile.
Did I tell you that Master is hopelessly smitten? Omigod. So freaking adorable. One might think that watching this big strapping manly man hopping around the living room going “bouncy bouncy bouncy!” in a high-pitched squeal would ruin his reputation for being a hardass.
One would be right. LOL
He comes home from work and goes straight to her, all squeaking and making faces. “How’s my babygirl?! Huh?! How’s grandpa’s girl?! Are you my princess? You are! Yes you are!” and she just eats. him. up.
It’s so cute though. He likes to make fun of me for going overboard on toys, clothes, etc. But just watch him walk through the baby section one time. “Does she need this? Does she have one of these? How about this right here?”
Spoiled Little Rotten Tot. That’s what I call her these days. Rotten Tot.
Life is good.
:)
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Uncategorized | kaya | 
Friday February 19th, 2010 9:40pm
The situation with Jes and you having the mixed roles will work itself out. You both will get frustrated and you will both learn to blow it off. I lived with my grandmother and grandfather when my oldest son was little about a year old i was just 18. We all lived together for 3 years and it all worked out. I still adore my grandma and miss my grandfather everyday. My oldest son has wonderful memories and even when Grandma and I got mad at each other, we still loved each other. At the time it was really really hard, but looking back would not change it for the world!
*grin* I’m a thrift store junkie too! Sounds like your GW is really nice…I have three within reasonable driving distance, but that means the GOOD stuff is spread out. :-(
As for parenting…yeah. Depending on which philosophy you go for, it’s either mandatory or a crime to let babies cry it out. Jes and BabyGirl are just going to have to work out a system that meets their needs as well as the rest of the household’s…
I love going to goodwill for things like that. And I love going to the thrift store, too. You never know what you will find. It’s just awesome.
[rq=2193528,0,blog][/rq]Conversations You Never Wanna Have With Mom
It will be interesting to see how grandparenting stacks up against parenting when we get there. Since our youngest is just about Babygirl’s age I suspect we have a while to wait.
[rq=2191283,0,blog][/rq]The Name Game
Poops rainbows?
Why? Why did you have to type that phrase Do you have any idea the damage you have done? I have that phrase stuck in my head and it just keeps making me laugh.
It’s bad enough you’ve gotten me addicted to reading your blog.
I don’t want to, I really don’t. But I know I will, I just won’t be able to help myself. I will end up using that phrase no matter how hard I try not to.
I hope you’re satisfied… lol
Kaya is addicting isn’t she? I’ve been going back through all the old post too. he is just too damn funny, and smart to boot.
She, sorry, I get excited and can’t type.
Scott the Doting Grandpa is the best mental image in the world, though he just isn’t nearly old enough. There is something about the soft spots tough guys have that just… Man, it makes me melt.
Unfortunately, sometimes it makes me coo “Oh my GOD, you are SO cute!!!” in a high-pitched voice and then I get stared at funny. Like I’M the strange one. Pffft.
Not that I’m not used to being stared at funny. But still.
~Chloe
[rq=2194602,0,blog][/rq]Mexican’t
Years ago, I saw a bumper sticker that I thought was nuts…made no sense at all to me. It said, “If I had known grandchildren were so much fun, I would have had them FIRST”. About that same time I saw another that said, “You never know love until you hold your first grandchild.” Again, I thought that was crazy since I loved our kids to pieces and never thought I could love anything more than I loved them. That was until the first grandchild came along. The Cap’n and I both literally and figuratively “melted”. As much as I love our kids and would have done nearly anything for them…we still must be “parents” and therefore take a certain amount of disciplinary stance in raising them. When it came to grands…the love has no boundary, no restrictions like knowing that you must be stern and impose certain restraints or rules for their own good. You can just be the grandparent, the spoiler-of-kids. There are just certain things you will always let your grands get away with that you would never have let your own kids even think of doing, much less getting away with them. Being a grandparent is God’s way of rewarding you for putting up with the shit that your own kids did to you while they were growing up, which gave you sleepless nights, nightmares, some gray hair (no, don’t have any thanks to L’Oreal)and more than your share of stress. LOL. Nothing compares to watching your grandchild’s face light up at the sight of you walking into the room, or the sight of their little arms reaching up for you to pick them up. Blessings on you and your family…and especially that precious little thing that can wrap your Sir around her little finger and never break a sweat while doing it. Tee-hee.
[rq=2194985,0,blog][/rq]Are You Watching Me? (part 2)
my friend and i were just talking about retail therapy the other day and how we are so in need of it. soon, i hopefully. you are so right negativity is a waste of time and energy. besides where does it get us other than angry, miserable, unhappy. not a good payoff i don’t think. keep having fun with babygirl and enjoy!
[rq=2195159,0,blog][/rq]thoughts
Your Master is totally reminding me of when D. sees a baby, any baby. He gets this soft look on his face.. this sappy grin..
I don’t think 2012 can get here fast enough for him.
[rq=2196274,0,blog][/rq]And Then, He Left…
Haha…poops rainbows. Love it.
My baby sis just had a baby of her own..and my poor mom is dealing with the same situation you are. It’s resulted in a couple “I’m going to stay at dad’s” trips recently, which just breaks my mom’s heart (cuz she doesn’t want to be away from the baby!)….buut, they’ll work it out. Baby sis is only 16, and hasn’t quite figured out yet, unfortunately, that she doesn’t get to BE 16 anymore. Hello, world!
The retail Gods are smiling on us all today!!! I went in to try “my” shoes on today. I visit them every couple of weeks. They weren’t on the shelf and I was thrown into the deepest pit of despair. I decided to cruise the clearance racks to make myself feel better. There in the size nine bin, shining with the light of the cosmos, were my shoes!!! So now they really are mine, at 50% off!!! Whoo Hoo!
Kaya, I have three sons, 26,23, and 8(our happy little accident).It’s being older that makes the difference. We’re having SO MUCH more fun with the little one than we did wth the two big ones. My oldest is married, and they live with us, so I have a parallel situation in my house. It is SO difficult to bite my tongue and not give relationship advice, they fight about the stupidest stuff. They have a real power struggle going on.Not the fun kind either. They have so much to learn, but I keep reminding myself they’re adults. I know difficult it can be. Enjoy Master enjoying his princess. Lucky little girl to have so many people crazy aout her!!!
From the Master of kaya,
It’s all lies…lies I tell ya…there isn’t audio or video..so y’all can’t prove nothing (double negative don’t ya know)…..*grins sheepishly*
Don’t know what y’all are talking about..Me a softy…..have a heart….Nope ain’t happening…LOL
Have a great weekend.
S
[rq=2200345,0,blog][/rq]Retail Therapy
Come to think of it .. I would love to hear S being all grandpa like to the cuttie :-P
First, lol MOK! ‘skay to be a softie around a granddaughter as special as yours!! We won’t tell a *soul*. (grins)
I agree with Kelly, it is an age thing. I’m 51. My youngest is 3. She’s only been 3 for 8 weeks, so …. ya, i know it seems weird. Mine are 24 (autisitc, lives @ home) almost 14 (going on 3 or 44 depending on the day), almost 6 (going on 44) and 3. I love them all, but the youngers? oh my..so much fun. And it keeps me young. I’m like the energizer bunny, always moving. (gotta keep up w/them, yanno?!) It’s great, it’s exhausting, and at the end of the day..rewarding.
Enjoy it. And good on you for biting the tongue about advice. Hard to, but …she won’t listen anyway. (smiles) who does at 18?
nilla
[rq=2207148,0,blog][/rq]nightmare
I was wondering about your relationship with your daughter. My own mother who visits frequently now that we have a little one is so critical of everything I do! It’s good to hear you aren’t like that!
Love to you and all of yours, including that cuddly master!
[rq=2212953,0,blog][/rq]She’s Here!