17 March 2008

purposeful purchasing versus emotional acquiring

If you're anything like me, when your stressed or upset, you either shop or eat. I think most women do. Recently I went to target to get some groceries, but when I got there I was upset about something related to my kids (oh, mommy guilt...). My first instinct was to go to the toy department and pick them each out a nice toy "for their Easter baskets"- toys they neither needed nor could I afford. And as I'm doing this, I'm thinking about WHY I'm doing it, but I'm telling myself I didn't care, it doesn't matter and I would feel better if they were happy Easter morning.
As I moved on to the grocery department, I started to feel more upset than before. I stopped and stood in front of the frozen vegetarian foods, trying to figure out what was making me so upset. Was it the kids again, or the buyers remorse I knew I was about to feel after spending 40% of my grocery budget on toys we didn't need. I took the toys out of the cart and tucked them behind some tortilla chips, instantly feeling better.
My kids will get some cool toys from the after christmas toy clearance, and some candy I got for free at CVS. I'd love for them to have that geotrax train, that monster truck from the toys r us flyer, but not this year. I never said this would be easy.

2 comments:

manda said...

You remind me of myself a lot. However your stronger and put the stuff back! I think you are kicking ass with your YOFL. Keep up the good work. Your kids arent going to remember the 80 dollars jeans your in or the geo trax. They will remember you!!

Anonymous said...

Good job, Jaim! Keep up the good work. Remember, it's just stuff. At the end of the day, none of the material crap will matter. I need to keep repeating that to myself as well!!