Ode to Shopping- A Perpetual Pain (8 Comments)
Ever unprepared for life- that is me. With a birthday coming up and no presents to be found, I scurried off to engage in The Shopping Experience. Now, this may come as a surprise to some of you, but I dislike shopping. It has to do with the painful parting of me and my money.
Around here one doesn’t have a plethora of shopping options- basically it’s one. The Great Out House. Oh well, yes, there is the J.C.Penney store downtown- the one that is so small you could fit about 10 of them in one of their regular mall stores. Plus, the World Wide Web but I was running short on time.
So I headed off to That Place to hunt for the just right gift and also stock up on food. As I wandered the aisles, feeling very out of place because I was about the only one without a cell phone stuck to my ear, I tuned into the Christmas music playing on the loud speakers. Oh Joy. I told myself the advantage to having Christmas come to stores so early was that I had more birthday gift choices. I was trying to find the positive, for once.
But, you know, I just could not get excited about the choices out there. More choices were not necessarily better choices. Everything is plastered with Hannah Montana, BRATZ girls, Princess’ or Barbie. Why can’t they make something without that? Would it not do whatever it was made to do without it? Pajamas used to have cute things on them-hearts, flowers, airplanes- now try and find something as innocent as that. All the things that didn’t have those on them were things that we already owned. The things I liked and thought Birthday Girl would like were things we already had plenty of lying around. I shouldn’t have cared what it was- I should have just bought pink things and called it good. It’s hard and now I dread even more the torturous Christmas shopping experience.
I just don’t get it. I know I am old, my brain is feeble- my children sucked whatever was up there out and we don’t watch much TV but I am so very different? I guess I get discouraged because there isn’t a choice unless I pay a whole lot more (see aforementioned money and parting issues). I may only have one store in town to really shop at but if I had ten I would bet that there still wouldn’t be much choice. I wonder what retailers are thinking when they put some of these things out there. I bet they are thinking “This will really sell!” and the sad part, in my mind, is that it does sell.
AAAAAAhhhhhh, another mom with common sense!!!!! As a mother of 5 girls, i totally struggle against allowing my daughters to “advertise” for popstars….or pretending to be one…..not always successful in that 2nd point LOL
Bev.
p.s. nice use of the word plethora 🙂
Comment by HS4God — November 6, 2008 @ 6:37 pm
I know exactly what you mean! Jessica turned 11 at the end of October and I went birthday shopping and looked high and low for things that she didn’t already have and that didn’t advertise! My kids can’t stand things that have names on them, and I can’t either…. Bratz, Little Mermaid, High School Musical, etc. It is so hard to find anything that doesn’t! I am already dreading Christmas shopping for her.
Comment by Dianne — November 6, 2008 @ 8:12 pm
Sounds like a start of a revolution to me….
Where women and children alike come together and create an unprecedented retail store called “Tacky-Be-Gone”, or “No Name”, or “All About Me, Not You”. A place where all sensible, non-conformist, tasteful people will flock to. A place where little girls can discover other colors than pink and purple (sorry, Pixie) and find better role models than pimped out celebrities. A place where little boys can discover toys that don’t have guns, trucks, or macho looking action figurines. And a place where mothers can discover that there are others like them that are fed up with commercialization being crammed down their throat as if they were laboratory rats with no other options. Ah…what a place that would be.
Comment by Liesel — November 7, 2008 @ 8:36 am
I am right there with you. I hate the choices they give our children. I try to order online and if I don’t have time, I pray I can find something worth buying that fits our standards.
Comment by Audra Marie — November 7, 2008 @ 8:57 am
And who knew the word plethora would be such a draw. hehehehe
Comment by Audra Marie — November 7, 2008 @ 8:58 am
We just received the Wally world Christmas toy magazine in the mail today. All of the above mentioned toys were in there. The funny thing is that kids usually play with the toy for a day or two, then move on to playing with other inexpensive items…papertowel rolls, blankets, boxes sticks, a piece of rope. But, somehow the genius minds of marketing have trained people to think that we must buy, buy, buy to make ourselves happy. Now our houses are full of clutter and more things to dust!
Lately, I have been making my birthday present purchases in the craft section of our local favorite store. They have lots of need kits and things to keep kids busy. They even have the cutest little denim girls purses that are only about $3.
Comment by Christina W — November 7, 2008 @ 4:23 pm
I am glad I am not alone. I was wondering if I was truly an odd ball. No cell phone, and disliking the toy choices.
I did end up getting more crafty things- some Play-Doh with accessories, and magic markers with a coloring book. Plus a dress up dress (bought off the Halloween sales rack) and a crown with earrings- because she is who she is, after all.
My Mom brought over some catalogs and there are things out there that aren’t “branded” but I’m going to have to spend a few more dollars. But I think it’ll be worth it. And worth it to get something they will play with for a time and not break right away.
Comment by JustMe — November 10, 2008 @ 6:27 pm
You can totally see her in her baby picture. What a cutie pie.
Comment by Michelle Burcham — November 11, 2008 @ 1:18 pm