Monthly Archives: May 2014

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I Can See It.

It is beautiful out. Why is shopping the first thing I think of on a day like today? What about going to the bike trail with my 4-year-old, who made great progress on his balance bike last weekend? Or the walking trail at the local pond that I only recently discovered? Can’t fitness and health be my first thoughts? Or maybe motherhood?

I finished a book last week that left me with a poignant thought: what do I want this family to look like? I don’t mean physically, obviously, but how do I want us to be? I thought of weekends filled with giggles, smiles, and recharging. As part of that vision, I asked my husband if we could focus on teaching our almost 8-year-old to ride a bike without training wheels. He agreed, and shortly after, I was awestruck to find him searching for videos on tips and tricks. Our rainy weekend turned out to be dry and he took his task very seriously. I thought my son would learn by the end of the summer, but how amazingly wrong I was.

He learned within 24 hours.

What?!

Teacher and pupil were both ready for the challenge. They both wanted it and made it happen. Incredibly, it was not a struggle for either of them. The progress just flowed. My son has not stopped smiling. His confidence level went up a notch, a really big one.

It was an amazing weekend. We got all our chores and errands done, but we also had fun. I wasn’t trying to find a couple of hours to go shopping or escape from the drudgery of life, as I do almost every minute of every day. I can’t think of the last weekend I had where I didn’t try to escape, or at least dream about checking out for a while.

I see it. More weekends like this one. My kids are old enough to remember these times, and I want their memories full of a loving and fun mom, not a grouchy uninterruptible mom at the computer. I really do believe that it can happen. I see it, and I choose it.

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Sitting on my Hands.

Today starts the women’s Half-Yearly sale at Nordstrom. I’m usually there right at opening time but am fighting to sit this one out. I’m thankful my kids don’t need shoes right now, because that’s always been my main motivation to go first thing on the first day. (Great prices on kids’ shoes, and that section gets picked over quickly.)

As usual, I checked my Nordstrom wishlist last night to see if anything had gone on sale. For the past Half-Yearlys, I’ve noticed they put up the sale prices the night before on many, if not all, the items. I was not tempted to go.

I woke up this morning and checked my wishlist again, and was not tempted to go.

I told my husband about the sale this morning and said I was not going for the first time in years. I was committed to not going.

What happened? I unexpectedly found myself with some free time today and what better thing to do than shop? So here I am, blogging about it so that I can not go. And not browse the sale. While online purchasing is not really a risk for me (I don’t do it often), online browsing is a huge time-suck. I’ve had a good couple of weeks and was proud of my progress, and then I found out about the Half-Yearly. I also found out that tomorrow starts a clearance sale at another favorite store. I tell you, I am fighting demons.

One practical thing I keep thinking about is how I finally realized that my preferred method of shopping is at discount stores, where the designer bargains are hidden and hard to find, but available if you’re up for the hunt. I can do that any time and am not limited to sale periods. I find that kind of shopping far more interesting than going to a department store, especially since I’ve started buying better brands that I can only afford on deep discount.

I still need more summer clothing, but am holding off one day at a time. Today, the Half-Yearly will not get me.