I'm starting to get excited about Christmas, my absolute favorite holiday. I've had Christmas music playing for about a week and a half now (I just couldn't wait until after Thanksgiving). Pretty soon we'll be watching The Nutcracker, putting up the tree, visiting Santa, and last but not least, doing some Christmas shopping. Excited to show my daughter Jordan the four-story Christmas tree at Galleria mall, I invited her on a special girl's outing today. On our way into the mall, I couldn't resist stopping in front of the American Girl store. If you haven't heard of this place before, it's a pre-teen girl's dreamland. The "boutique and bistro" is like a pint-size Nordstrom, complete with shopping, dining, and a hair salon for dolls (I'm not kidding). Dying to see it (and knowing I'd be sorry if I did), I brought Jordan inside. Thirty minutes later I had to pry her out of there and to her dismay, we left empty-handed. The dolls were lovely but am I crazy for not wanting to spend $95 on one? We carried on with our mall outing and had a nice time, but the specter of the dolls loomed large in my head. Sure my daughter could live without owning one of these collectibles, but one day her peer group is going to be putting on the pressure and I won't get off so easy. I'm not looking forward to that day.
One of the road hazards of trying to be green (or in this case frugal) is that sometimes you have to look but not buy. Talking with my friend Anna later, she said, "Yeah, I know what you mean. We try to be thrifty but sometimes you just get tired of not buying things." So what does she do? "Well, I recently took Arabella to a thrift store and I'm surprised to say that we had a ball. We bought a little child's sewing machine for $2.99. All it needed was a new needle. We bought an unworn princess costume for another $2.99 and a jump rope for $1. We found this cute little doctor's bag with a stethoscope, cast, thermometer, shot and a band-aid package for $1.99. Altogether, I think we got out of that store for $12." This story is amazing for a dozen reasons: Anna and her 2-year old had a fun outing for next to nothing, she was able to buy her daughter some creative gifts for a fraction of the regular cost, she kept some gently-used items from the landfill, and she supported a charity to boot.
I'm not saying that I'll never go back to the Galleria, or even saying that I'll never buy Jordan one of those dolls. But I am going to hold off as long as I can on introducing my four-year old to any more "premier lifestyle brands," even ones that carry a positive message such as the American Girl products (manufactured in China of course). I think I'll save that money to give Jordan some Spanish lessons instead or even a membership to the Natural History museum. Though less fun to open on Christmas morning, those are gifts that keep on giving long after the toys are forgotten.
