School Shopping

I took Kaeli and Paige shopping this weekend for school clothes. Daddy stayed home with the boys...so the girls were rather excited to say the least. Our first stop was to buy purses. :) They had a couple of dollars and decided they HAD to have purses to put their money in. And, here's the funny thing......they also had to find something to spend their few dollars on. So, by the time we were done at Claire's, they each had a purse.....but no money. Kaeli had a hard time finding anything for 2.00 and I kept telling her maybe she could save the money since she couldn't find anything. Nope, not a chance! She had 2.00 and by gosh she was going to spend it on SOMETHING! :) Finally, Kaeli and Paige bought a package of nail polish for 3.00 together. Kaeli contributed her 2.00 and Paige contributed her 1.00. You should have seen these 2 girls prancing around the mall with their new purses slung over their shoulders full of their nail polish THEY had just bought with their very own money! They looked as proud as peacocks.

We then proceeded to one store after another. Paige is still at a very easy age to dress. It also helps that she's pretty easy-going and doesn't have any problems with how clothes feel on her. I'd pick up something, say "oh this is cute" and she'd agree. She'd try it on and say "I like it". Ahhhh, can I bottle this age up and keep ALL our shopping expeditions just this way? Well, there was ONE minor issue. I showed her 2 shirts that I liked. When she tried them on, she could only choose one to get. It just so happens that the one she REALLY loved was not my favorite of the two. I relented and let her get it. I figured she had been so easy up to that point she deserved it. I just love the outfit she got for her first day of school. It's so sweet! You'll have to wait until next Monday to a pic, though.

Now Kaeli was not quite so easy. The first problem is that she's now in the "tweens" size range. 7 yr olds are buying clothes from the same section as early teens. So, I found many of the styles just not very cute. Kaeli was also not impressed. Thank goodness, she still loves pink and cutesy. That's NOT what they are designing for little girls these days. The 2nd problems is that Kaeli is very sensitive to how clothes feel on her. So, even if it's cute on the hanger, it has to feel just right on her. We managed to walk away with 2 outfits. But, one has to go back. The skirt and shirt just don't match. I knew that was the case at the store, but I was just tired of trying to find 2 things that she'd actually agree to wear. She's agreed that we can take the outfit back and try another mall. This was soooooo infinitely easier last year when she had to wear a uniform.

In the end, we all survived. We do need to venture back to the mall again for Kaeli, but only for one outfit. We're all stocked up on school supplies, too. So, this week we'll start working ourselves back into a routine before school starts next Monday (Aug 27).

When I wrote earlier about how Kaeli and Paige had a few dollars I realized I didn't mention how they got that money. I don't give the kids an allowance. I buy them what they need and will occasionally buy them something special. They are expected to help me out quite often when I ask and keep their room clean (well, at least kind of clean). Sometimes they ask what they will get if they clean a mess their brothers just made. Steve and I always remind them that they will be getting dinner.....they get the point. But, since the beginning I've always told them that they don't just get special stuff for doing everyday, ordinary work. Or even for doing things that I ask them to do. They can earn extra stuff by going above and beyond the "call of duty". For about a week now, Kaeli's been asking for more Webkinz pets, charms, or trading cards. Finally, one morning she woke up, snuk downstairs to the basement, and cleaned the entire basement (toys and such). She came up and took me down to "surprise" me with what she had done. Because this was one of those "extra special" jobs that no one had even asked her to do she got 2.00 and 2 packs of Webkinz trading cards. Paige wanted something, too, so she went found a little job she could do and earned 1.00. So, that's where the money came from. The basement job was really neat! I didn't even know she was awake yet. At one point, I saw the basement light on and turned it off. A bit later, I saw it back on but I was too busy to turn it off right then and just thought maybe I had not actually turned it off the first time. When Kaeli and I were later talking about what she had done, I was very impressed. When I turned the light off the first time, she didn't say a word and just turned it back on so that I wouldn't know she was down there. That's VERY impressive for Kaeli because she normally freaks out! So, that took a lot of self-control for her to maintain her composure. It was a proud moment for me because I feel like it's teaching her a good work ethic. So many employees these days think they only have to do the bare minimum of their own job. I want my kids to understand that to really get noticed and earn more in life you have to go above and beyond the basics of what is asked of you. She wanted more and sought out a way to get more! I was very proud! :)