Rock Star

I’m a rock star. Really I am. Let me preface this by saying that I am a little addicted to shopping consignment sales.  I get an adrenaline rush from shopping them. It has become a form of entertainment for me these days. There are two big local ones that happen twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall. So I end up going to a total of four large consignment sales throughout the year. Each one has almost a carnival aspect to them. The air is buzzing with anticipation and lines form early. I spend weeks preparing for the sales by pricing, tagging, and hanging my clothes.  Then I drop them off and all the while I am hoping that my time spent agonizing on the prices doesn’t go to waste. My husband jokes with me that I end up breaking even with what I make and what I sell but that’s beside the point.  Quite often the night before the big sale I have a hard time sleeping.  I go over the list in my head of items that I hope to score.  In my mind I plan out which section of the sale I will go to first in hopes of snagging the best deal. I have the layouts of both sales memorized such as where the toys are located, the big items, the clothes, the shoes, and so on and so forth. I just want to walk out of the sale feeling the thrill of victory in saving some cash.  It is a sad competition I have with myself. I love sharing my good fortune with whoever happens to be around, “You won’t believe the deal I got on this umbrella stroller! Only $7 dollars and it has a canopy, a mesh holder for odds and ends and even a holder for my water bottle!”  It is validation for a job well down when validation is hard to come by these days as a stay-at-home mom.

 I consigned some clothes at one of our recent spring community consignment sales and because of that I was able to shop the sale early. So I guess you could say that I was a VIP of the sale. Anyway, I went to check out clothes for my oldest first. She has become so picky lately so I knew I needed hunting time. I found not only a set of princess PJ’s but also three princess t-shirts. Can you tell that princess stuff is huge around my house? The best part is they were all only $2 a piece and they all looked new. I immediately began envisioning my oldest seeing them and giving me a hug and saying, “Thank you mommy!” so I had to get them. Actually this scenario isn’t a fantasy if you can believe it. She might be a very demanding child, but she is also a very grateful one. A friend of mine recently gave her a pair of white sandals with butterflies on them and she immediately wanted to call her and tell her thank you. Somehow the multitudes of being grateful discussions from the past took.

Later in the day I presented my finds to her and waited for the reaction. Sure enough she immediately clapped her hands together and began jumping up and down yelling, “Thank you mommy! They are my very favorite! They are so pretty! I so excited! Thank you for getting them for me!” She then proceeded to hug and kiss me as well as each and every princess item in her hands. So I really am a rock star, if only in my daughter’s eyes.