Wednesday 19 May 2010

Eeny Meeny


The DHL driver, once such a regular visitor, hasn't rung my doorbell in weeks. My porch has been devoid of packages and "Sorry we missed you" slips. Have I been shopping less? Have I heck. No, no - what's occurring here is something very special, a rare and magical window in time and space, the moment between dreaming and waking, a never-to-be repeated alignment of forces within the universe.

In short, The Princess is at nursery a few days a week, The Bub has stopped requiring constant feeding and is content to be lugged about in the Bjorn and Master C is pretty happy with anything, as long as there might be an ice cream in it for him at some point. All of which means that I have once again discovered real life shopping.

Recently, I made my first visit to H&M in, literally, years. I don't mind admitting that I was excited - too much so, maybe; I was flitting from rack to rail like a butterfly, drunk on colours and styles and textures, too inebriated to actually take anything in and ending up so overwhelmed that I was underwhelmed. Gutted! Am I seriously going to leave empty-handed? And then I saw the dress. Love at first sight.

But I'm out of practice. The khaki or the blue? The 10 or the 12? These decisions are easily made late at night on a laptop in blissful post-bedtime silence (buy 'em all, try 'em on at home, use the free returns system to send back the rejects) but in a shop, with banging music and Master C agitating to go on the Bob the Builder ride irritatingly placed within eyeshot, not to mention The Bub, attached to my front and making it impossible to gauge an item's suitability by holding it up against myself in the mirror, I'm getting frazzled. I prefer the khaki but it's only available in a 10. Years of pregnancy and post-natal heftiness have warped my perceptions. Am I a 10? Surely I'm a 10? Is Bob the Builder a 10? What??!! Bob the ...?? Oh god, yes, yes, in a minute!

I need to distract Master C from the Bob thing. "Honey, which one do you like? Which one should mummy get?"

He looks, considers. Looks confused. Then his face brightens. "Me do eeny meeny mamma," he says.

He gets as far as "catch a tiger by the toe," and stops. A broad smile spreads across his face. "That not tiger mamma, that leopard!!" He laughs and laughs, slapping his chubby little thigh. "Me like that one," he says pointing to the khaki. He is still laughing as I pay for it, still chuckling when we get to the Bob ride. I am so in love with him, I let him ride on it twice.

7 comments:

  1. adorable dress ugh why cant they just leave the box on our doorsteps anymore!

    would love you to check out Passport Glamour & follow if you like!

    Anna Katrina
    http://passportglamour.blogspot.com

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  2. Gorgeous dress - great choice. Can't wait til H&M comes online later this year. xx

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  3. I love Master C. A style guru in the making. The new Gok Wan with chubbier thighs- think about it...

    Love the dress, great find. So fab to combine fashion with children like you do. I am now to be found justifying purchases with 'but it has a butterfly/leopard/jungle print, it will entertain the children, honest!'

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  4. Gorgeous dress. I always forget to try H&M but you've inspired me to take a look in there...bet that dress has gone though!

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  5. This made me all teary when I got to the end the first time I read it, and again this time! You've managed to put into one paragraph the whole way a two year old can make you love him so much you could carry him around for ever in your pocket.

    (And I'm also very impressed that you manage to buy clothes you actually like even the following day with a 2yo and a baby in tow. I have a poor record in this regard!)

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  6. You have your very own stylist in that little chap! And if he's happy to be paid for his services in Bob The Builder rides and ice creams all the better.

    Sometimes I think Gok Wan must use the Eeeny Meeny system when he's choosing clothes for people. Although I bet he doesn't get paid in Bob The Builder rides!

    Fabulous blogging as usual!!

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  7. Another pearler, Sarah, I love your honesty.. I'm just learning the benefits of internet shopping now that I'm joined at the hip to my first baby. Might need you to send me your 'Sarah's guide to online shopping' to save me learning it all the hard way!

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