Of Jeans, Rain, Toys and successful Shopping

There are things in life you cannot change. Not anywhere and especially not here in Paradise. And of course I knew about them before. Shortly after I begun to work and live here I learned it. But at that point in time I didn’t care, because there was just me, myself and I and I could handle it …

… but now, with a three-year old in tow, things are totally different.

I’m talking about ‘Shopping’ in Paradise. Here it doesn’t work like in many other places. From other countries I remember the leisurely stroll through a mall, looking at things, knowing you can come back anytime in the future and your object of desire will still be there, patiently waiting for you.

Not here in Paradise. Here we live with the motto you see it, you better buy it, or else you won’t find it again for the next 2 or 3 years. No joke.

And this week, a very cloudy and rainy week so far, I learned the following:

1. You want cool looking 3/4 Jeans, you will not find them. Not in the colour you prefer, and in the very unlikely event you find the colour you most certainly will not find your size. Nowhere.

2. You see another pair of beautiful, rather expensive full length Jeans in the preferred colour and in your size, buy them at the very instant, even if you were not looking for them. It shouldn’t matter if your tot is getting cranky and refuses to play along, if you have problems taking him with you to the changing room and keeping him there. No, you shall not care about other people witnessing your struggles, just buy those Jeans.

3. Do apply this procedure not only for your own clothes, do the same for your tots clothes, and for your tots toys, of course. However concerning the toys, keep a close eye on your tot and watch out for the development of tantrums in case you don’t meet his demands. Your Hubs can take care of himself. 😉

4. Go on your shopping trip when it’s raining off and on, even when it’s pouring down sometimes. Getting home is easier when you have a car, I agree, but moving around in town is so much easier without one. In the worst case, when sheets are falling from the sky, you can always take a taxi. Do it during this weather because there are not too many people in town.

5. But be aware, don’t try to buy things in town on a Friday or towards the end of the month. In that case every shop is packed, you won’t find anything, but get poked everywhere by hundreds of wet people, doing the same thing that you’re doing. Especially do not go shopping from the 27th until the 3rd the next month.

6. When you pick up a parcel at the post office, do let your tot carry it. Until he prefers the much lighter and smaller bag with the Jeans you just bought. It doesn’t matter if the pack is almost half his size and he keeps bumping into things. Let him. Otherwise you will have a full-blown tantrum on main street with 100 people watching.

7. When you get home with the above parcel, do NOT open it right away. Otherwise the said tot refuses to eat lunch and there will be no quiet time for you in the afternoon, because he also refuses to nap and prefers to play with toys you were playing with as a child, the ones your parents just mailed to you in the parcel he was schlepping through town. Yep, you won’t find LEGOs in Paradise, sniff. 😦

8. And last but not least, do buy some wine on you shopping spree, because you are going to need it. But be aware, your Hubs might surprise you because he reads your mind, always tries to buy all the items from the shopping list you gave him loves you so much and does the same thing. The more wine you have the better, it won’t go to waste if your tot keeps skipping his nap. 😉

With those conclusions in mind, life and shopping in Paradise will be a piece of cake for you.

For more of those important lessons life is teaching you, head over to ‘Life With Baby Donut‘:

But now, please tell me about your special experience with shopping, with your little one(s) or without. Does it also seem like everyone else is buying (or just bought) the same thing you are looking for?