105 Ways to Give a Book

Kicking Butt

I have noted that I am generally unlucky in an irony-prone way. I am also endowed with the useless gift of bargain shopping. So how will these two traits of mine coexist in this holiday-shopping season?

My ten-year-old girl is convinced that she wants a Roboraptor for Christmas. My husband and I thought that the kids were not going to get $100 dollars of enjoyment out of this toy and decided to pass on it. However, we’re also not getting her the iPod she wants, and as I looked at the gifts spread out on my day off, I noticed that they seemed lame. Majorly lame.

And then this morning, I’m sipping my coffee and making headway into feeling like a human being when what to my wondering eyes should appear, but an ad in Circuit City’s flyer for a Roboraptor for — it’s exciting — $30. I almost did a spit-take with my coffee. I had my husband calling the store to see when it opened while I looked online. The store had opened an hour earlier. There was no way that robotic creature was still there, but I’m a mom. A mom with hope and lame pile of presents in the closet, so off I went.

When I got to the store, I couldn’t find it anywhere. I asked one person who pointed me in a vague direction. I asked another person who didn’t know, but who asked a third person. And that third person, oh bless him, retrieved the last Roboraptor from the back room. I was so happy that I think I actually jumped up and down.

Later that day, I remembered that I had wanted to stop by the fabric store for this storage case that I could get with a fifty-percent-off coupon. The stacks of cases were gone, but a week ago I had brought one of the cases to the jewelry department and left it there when I found a cheaper case. Amazingly enough, it was still there, and I bought it for half price. Then to the craft store where, also a week ago, I had seen a planter that would be perfect for my seven-year-old’s gardening project. I forgot to buy it then, but maybe it would still be there. It was, along with some beads that were now seventy percent off.

Dare I try my luck with one more store in the same complex? Oh, why not. In Ross, maybe a month ago, I remembered thinking there was a perfect gift for my seven-year-old that I would have to come back and buy when I had more time. Today, I couldn’t even remember what that gift was, but I thought I might as well walk through the store and see if I remembered. Now Ross is one of those discount stores with a little bit of everything, and stuff goes fast, so there was little chance that something I saw there a month ago would still be there. And yet it was. A house for Bratz babies at a whopping $25.

In the race of the MotherReader traits, apparently bargain-shopping is kicking irony-prone’s butt!

I still have to make daily pilgrimages to Toys ’R’ Us for their mega-cheap MP3 player, which we hope will tide over the ten-year-old’s iPod hunger. It can’t be found online, but the store is supposed to get more players in some time during the week. Which will win out this time? Stay tuned.

Oh, and since this is a book blog, I’ll assure you that I did buy books for those I love as well. I have bought I’m With Stupid; Sippy Cups are not for Chardonnay; The Wizard, The Witch, and Two Girls from Jersey; I Was a Teenage Popsicle; Clarice Bean Spells Trouble; Goose Chase; Te Amo, Bebé, Little One; Lilly’s Big Day; Snoozers; The Little Green Goose; and Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late.
Category: 5 comments

5 comments:

MotherReader said...

Update: I bought a cheap MP3 player online, $24 reduced from $70, plus $6 s&h. Not a bad deal and for an extra ten bucks over the Toys R Us price I don't have to step foot in that store again this holiday season.

Anonymous said...

Good job on the shopping! I loved the list of books - but here's what I want to know - if sippy cups aren't for chardonnay, what are they for? Sauvignon blanc? I very much prefer that to chardonnay anyhow. :)

Anonymous said...

I freakin' love Sippy Cups Are Not for Chardonnay and even briefly reviewed it on our blog when we first started it. So funny. Even better is The Three-Martini Playdate by Christie Mellor (reviewed here -- not to push our blog, but just sharing, 'cause I wanna give that book to every. pregnant. woman. I. know. or. even. don't. know. So very good)....

Great post! Congrats on kicking irony-prone trait's ass. You are now my hero -- I have two young girls and haven't bought a damn thing. My husband and I get so frustrated with the craziness of it all that we wait 'til the last minute -- but that comes with its headaches. Anyway, congrats to you . . .

MotherReader said...

Thanks for the kudos. I was so freakin' proud that I had to share.

Jules, I'll check out the book you mentioned (never worry about pushing your blog with friends) as I love any mommy book that lets moms know that they can chill out. I used to me a last-minute shopper myself. One year my husband and I shopped so much on Christmas Eve that the credit card company made us call in to prove that our card wasn't stolen and some crook wasn't on a spending spree.

Anonymous said...

oh yes, god bless the chill-out-mama books. see also 'confessions of a slacker mom,' and don't let the fact that it's by someone named Muffy turn you away from it. it's also reviewed in that link to my post i sent. the title is deceiving in that it sounds like a laugh-a-minute read, and it is funny, but it's also pretty thought-provoking and refreshing to read -- a mother who actually isn't stressed out about stuff and . . . well, i talked about it in that post. it's great.

cheers! hope the daughter loves her MP3 player.
jules