Ooooh La La

Play date at the local bounce house and out for hamburgers and shakes: postponed when the other mom called me, sick.  Sad Anna.  When I asked what we could do instead, she promptly fixed her lovely full lips into a pout and managed to make her eyes droop and said in a falsely sweet voice, "The Mall?"

This child is basically the only reason I ever go to the mall.  (The only other reason is the other child).  We kind of have a routine.  We go to Borders (sadly, soon to be closing), The Disney Store, and sometimes Justice. Then we head upstairs to Johnny Rockets for lunch where we must sit at the counter and Anna always orders a grilled cheese, onion rings, and a chocolate shake.  Then we hit the Carousel for a $1 ride, and make it home in time to catch the school bus.

Oh, and sometimes when we get there right when the Mall opens, we hit Pottery Barn Kids. Like today.

This is a recently added stop, and it began when I started trying to, for Molly's sake, convince Anna to get her own room.  Yes, I know that was possibly one of the most terrible ideas I've ever had as a mother. And I like the way the room situation is now, but Molly is getting increasingly hostile about it.  And for the first since her sister has been born, we have more than 2 bedrooms in our place.

Anna likes visiting Pottery Barn Kids, and is always finding little things she likes there, but never is persuaded to get her own room soon.  She'll say things like "Someday when I get my own room, I can maybe have a canopy over my bed like this."

Today, we sauntered casually through, eventually making our way to the back of the store.  And there....

It was perfect.  Perfectly Anna.  And I must say, that Anna sometimes has perfect taste.

Deep hued wood sleigh bed, with pink and white beribboned bedspread.  Little girlie, but not too much.  Fluffy tulle bedskirt and canopy.  Pink and brown polka dot lamp.  And little-french-girl-with-beret- and-dog-on-leash-with-Eiffel-Tower-in-scene sheets.  Pink and brown of course.

Anna literally gasped.  "THIS ONE MOM! I WANT THIS ONE!"  She ran her fingers over the bedspread and then hugged the bed as best she could.  "Mom - please call Dad and ask him if we can buy this today.  I am ready to move rooms tonight."  She proceeded to explain how we could paint the playroom pink and maybe even put up some brown accents.  We could get "pretty curtains" (tulle) with pink polka dots.  As she talked, I could completely envision this room.  I wanted her to have it too.

I, however, began to tick off in my mind the cost of each item. And concluded that everything in the ensemble would equal the number of my student loan debt. So, a lot.

In the past, I have always sought Pottery Barn catalogs for inspiration, and then pretty much never bought anything there, using things I have at home, finding them at cheaper stores, or making them. Nothing about what I saw today seems like anything I have seen anywhere else.  It was so fresh and new and breathtaking, Anna and I were completely taken with it.  So I'm pretty sure we haven't run across it at say, Target. It's brand new, the store clerk told me.  And it's not online, I checked because I was going to post a link.

Jeff will NEVER go for this. My practical self has no idea how this vision will come to pass.  But it was 6 year old Tiffany who stood beside 6 year old Anna today and floated in the dream of that bedroom.  That Tiffany could slap that whole thing on the credit card.  Which is a good argument for 6 year olds not having credit cards.

Teaching children to budget is important.  Teaching them they can't have everything they want is important too. Sharing bedrooms never killed anyone (though my sister Kelly will swear that it just about did).  Patience is an important virtue. So is living within your means.  I will do the sensible thing (probably).  If all else fails, Jeff is still a powerful stopper.  And tulle and ribbon, pink and brown polka dots, and french girls and their poodles have no hold over him whatsoever. Like they clearly do on me.