14 December 2011

Winning Wednesday

I did not fail Five today. Okay, it's only the morning, and he won't be back home for eight hours, but so far...winning! I am so proud, I decided to share.

The elementary school has a "school store," where one can purchase inexpensive spirit items, like pencils and erasers. Items that would normally be shunned or discarded are transformed, through the simple application of a "Rockets!" logo, into coveted trinkets to be hoarded and loved.

Five is a practiced consumer, easily distracted by The Shiny, and swayed by pint-sized television pitchmen, or in this case, PTA ladies. He wants what everyone else wants, and is frequently-nay, almost always- thwarted in his attempt to acquire said objects. For, as we all know, I fail him.

In my defense, the school store is only open one day every month. Apparently, the same people who thought up the six-day cycle also set the store calendar. But this year, I actually saved the print-out detailing the hours of operation, and entered them into my datebook. This week, I transferred that information to my giant "This Week on the Farm" whiteboards, and this morning I packed his money in his lunchbox. Yes, his money. I was willing to give him three dollars-how many pencils does he need? But he wanted to bring seven, because that's what he had in his wallet. I agreed, because you know that if he went with three dollars, there would have been something worth four that he desperately wanted and couldn't buy.

And that would have been my fault.



By popular demand, this is a picture of the last thing I made Five purchase with his own cash.

And here is what I am willing to buy.

It made me laugh to line them up, because the shortest ones are mine. I've already bought new ones for Three because he got taller, dammit.

Have a merry, comfy day!

7 comments:

  1. Ahh, the affinity effect . We consumer behavior types are in awe and wonder of the power of the Rockets logo (and Cardinals logo and the Illini logo and the Zac Brown Band logo and the [fill the blank with your own preference] logo). It's been especially interesting to me to see my nieces and nephews with military parents establish an affinity with their schools even when the military life insists that they change schools at least every other year or so.

    I can't wait to hear about what Five has chosen with his precious seven dollars!

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  2. Anonymous15.12.11

    From yesterday (because I was tardy, blame Daniel, the man is endlessly distracting on his days off), yes we are amazingly blessed to have these far away friends... but wait, NEVER meet? I cannot live with that as a fact, only a poor execution of some scheduling conflicts.
    Also, the Captain's comment was priceless! (Are we sure it's not a Dan/Andrew mix up/clone situation?)

    The Festive Holiday Shurb!!! Wow, that is absolutely a regular lovely damn tree there! He is SUCH an excellent shopper. I'm with Carrie, waiting anxiously to hear (and see!) what today's purchases were.
    Julie

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  3. Yay for winning! Also, that every six days schedule is stupid.

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  4. Anonymous15.12.11

    I hated the six day schedule. I never knew what day we were on. Now boy child is on a 2 day schedule and I still have trouble keeping track. My kids have never ever in their lives been able to buy something at the school store because none of us ever knew when it was open. We kind of fail at the whole hoo-rah school spirit thing.

    I like Five's tree. So what did he get?

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  5. I was amused by the line up of jeans. It was kind of a "usual suspects" thing for me except nobody in them : )

    And yes, what did Five buy?

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  6. I just want to say it's rude to post again before I have a chance to comment. ;) (See, Carrie and I ARE related. We're both emoticon-dependent.) You've forced me to comment on two posts at once.

    1. Bras are serious lingerie.
    2. I heart internet friendships/kinships. They seem distilled so that everyone gets to the crux of the matter. Of course, we could all be blowing cyber smoke up everyone's cyber ass but I'm giving the cyber-community the benefit of the doubt.
    3. Blogging is great therapy for me. I have a lot of feelings and my dog is not a great listener, so blogging it is.
    4. I love Five's tree. I'd like one of my own in fact. Excellent purchase, Five.
    5. As a seasoned volunteer-wrangler, someone might tell you that you could change the school store schedule if you wanted to volunteer to man it. (She says while ducking to avoid the recently purchased school store item that is assuredly hurtling through the air in her general direction.) I agree. Their schedule is stupid.
    6. Thanks for posting. :)

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  7. @Sarah: I've been especially blog prolific this week! I'm about the write a new one, so I can post the picture of Five's purchases, because I don't know how to do that in comments. Also, my blog is not emoticon-enabled, which I think I may have to rectify for you and Carrie. :)

    I just bought new bras, for which the Captain and I are grateful. I doubt he'll see me in anything more sexy until April or May. Until then, I am in bed in polar fleece. And socks.

    @Robena: I saw a Sears commercial a few years ago, where the mom was shopping for jeans. She took them off the rack, and laid them on the floor to guess the sizes, because that's how her kids spent their time-laying down in front of the television! Because the children and I hate to shop together, I always go and just hold the jeans up to me and add five to ten inches. I guessed wrong on Three's!

    @Karen: Is it a New Jersey thing? Why do we have to be complicated? Two just spent four days preparing for the pep rally, where the classes face off against eachother. He excels in pep. Now,if he could take that energy and apply it to his academics...

    @Delia: Yes it is. Based on your religious and public education, I think New Hampshire is much smarter than New Jersey.

    @Julie: The Captain was telling me his travel schedule for next year, and one of his stops was to Seattle. I said, "Ooo!! Julie's not far from there! I should go!" I think the damn kids will muck up that plan, but I think I will have to plan a Betty/Meggie mini-con.

    @Carrie: Half of Three's Christmas list is team jerseys. I find them to be a risky investment, because boys grow, and athletes get traded. But he's always been a follower. Interestingly, Five didn't purchase one thing with the school logo, which I will now go download to the new post!

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Thanks for reading! Unlike other Diaries, this one isn't private. Feel free to share your thoughts. Politely, of course.