I cannot believe I just spent $41 on a baby gate! My “babies” are 7 and 9 years old. There are many other things that I would much rather have spent that money on:
A pedicure
7 tubs of ice cream, preferably of a chunky chocolate variety
A quick dye of my roots
School supplies (ahh, the heady smell of new erasers and Sharpies in the Wal-mart aisle)
A movie ticket, popcorn, Twizzlers and a large Diet Pepsi (OK—maybe $41 isn’t enough)
Alas, because of my dog Shadow’s increasingly disobedient behavior and the fact that she is hell-bent on destroying our new hardwood floor, I purchased a deluxe top of the stairs baby gate EXACTLY like the one I donated years ago, say, when the kids got out of diapers. Why? To keep the hairy, scratchy toe-nailed, urinating beast out of the family room for good.
I hate re-buying things! If I must re-buy, I’d like for there to have at least been some significant improvement in quality or function between the first and second versions. From what I can see, a wooden baby gate is pretty much the same as before. Besides, I am so mad at Shadow right now, I’m not exactly seeking out the safety functions of such a gate.
Re-buying also puts a cramp in my “pare down, donate, recycle” mentality. I am quite disciplined at purging things from our house, but when I then need to re-buy, my peeved mind starts to think that hording might be a better option. One day I’m re-purchasing a deluxe wooden baby gate, the next I’m the crazy cat lady trapped under my own newspaper piles. Ugh.
To make matters worse, I ordered it from Target.com. Hmmm, who can think of a gazillion cooler things to purchase from Target than a baby gate?
I will need to try not to get too excited when the package comes. Even though I'll already know what's inside, I'll probably hold out a glimmer of hope that someone has sent me some really wonderful, bulky treasure I've been pining for, only to find-- a baby gate.
A pedicure
7 tubs of ice cream, preferably of a chunky chocolate variety
A quick dye of my roots
School supplies (ahh, the heady smell of new erasers and Sharpies in the Wal-mart aisle)
A movie ticket, popcorn, Twizzlers and a large Diet Pepsi (OK—maybe $41 isn’t enough)
Alas, because of my dog Shadow’s increasingly disobedient behavior and the fact that she is hell-bent on destroying our new hardwood floor, I purchased a deluxe top of the stairs baby gate EXACTLY like the one I donated years ago, say, when the kids got out of diapers. Why? To keep the hairy, scratchy toe-nailed, urinating beast out of the family room for good.
I hate re-buying things! If I must re-buy, I’d like for there to have at least been some significant improvement in quality or function between the first and second versions. From what I can see, a wooden baby gate is pretty much the same as before. Besides, I am so mad at Shadow right now, I’m not exactly seeking out the safety functions of such a gate.
Re-buying also puts a cramp in my “pare down, donate, recycle” mentality. I am quite disciplined at purging things from our house, but when I then need to re-buy, my peeved mind starts to think that hording might be a better option. One day I’m re-purchasing a deluxe wooden baby gate, the next I’m the crazy cat lady trapped under my own newspaper piles. Ugh.
To make matters worse, I ordered it from Target.com. Hmmm, who can think of a gazillion cooler things to purchase from Target than a baby gate?
I will need to try not to get too excited when the package comes. Even though I'll already know what's inside, I'll probably hold out a glimmer of hope that someone has sent me some really wonderful, bulky treasure I've been pining for, only to find-- a baby gate.
My sister tried to warn me about this a few weeks ago, as she knows about my active imagination and how much mail excites me. She had one of her packages forwarded to our house, addressed to me. I tore it open, not letting the kids get their little mitts on it, and there it was, before my eyes, my sister's new sports bra. Delightful.
How would you spend $41?
