Category Archives: shopaholism

July 5, 2011 · 6:03 pm

The Standoff

Dylan and I are having a standoff over new food…again! (FYI:  New food is anything Dylan won’t eat, including but not limited to chicken, turkey, meat and pizza.)  Finn McMissile with “shooters” is at stake.  Let me explain.  

My Shopaholic Mini-Me is obsessed with Cars 2 and buying Cars 2 toys.  I’m definitely guilty of buying the boys a few cars from the movie, but Dylan has taken it to a whole new level.  Yesterday, he declared it was “Toy Day.”  Silly us, we thought it was the 4th of July!  He assumed that meant we would go to the toy store and buy new toys and then play Cars 2 all day.  My interpretation was a little bit different.  I filled several bags with old toys to bring to Goodwill.  (Yay, Shopaholic Mama!)  

This morning, Dylan told me he wants Finn McMissile with “shooters.”   I said, “Fine, but you have to earn it.  You have to eat a new food.   Chicken, turkey or pizza.  You choose.  If you take a bite, I’ll take you to the toy store.”  Can you believe this is even a battle? Eating pizza for a toy?!

Yesterday afternoon, Mike went swimming with the boys.  As soon as he opened the pool fence, Riley jumped right in and swam like a madman until Mike literally forced him out.  Dylan, however, wouldn’t put his feet in the water because he decided he was afraid of (1) pool chemicals and (2) a spider in the water.  We explained that pool chemicals keep the water clean and clear and that that they don’t hurt people (and that he’s gone in the pool a million times before!).  Mike even skimmed the pool to get rid of every bug and imaginary spider he could find, but it didn’t matter.  Dylan decided he was afraid and that was that.  Frustrated, I took him inside while Riley frolicked in the water.

Sometimes I have all the patience in the world to deal with Dylan’s anxieties.  He gets it from me, so I have a lot of compassion.  Other times, though, I just get frustrated.  When I see Riley swimming with abandon or eating chicken or doing forward rolls at My Gym, I wish Dylan could be more like him.  This is where Mama Guilt swallows me whole.

I don’t really want Dylan to be more like Riley.  Believe me, he’s perfect just the way he is.  But I do wish I could figure out how to get him to let go.  And if I ever figure it out, maybe I’ll learn to let go, too.  Until then, it’s a standoff.  New food for Finn McMissile.  I have a feeling no one’s going to win this one.

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Filed under anxiety, Cars, guilt, Guilty Mama, shopaholism, toys

June 16, 2011 · 5:23 pm

Spending Habits of an (Almost) Rehabbed Shopaholic

I haven’t written much about my most recent stint in shopaholic rehab.  Technically, I have a few days left of my one month spending freeze, but on Monday I mistakenly thought I was done (oops) and immediately made a list of everything I want to buy (new flip flops, summer bag, white jeans and, of course, more sundresses).  I’ll never be cured, will I?    Maybe not, but I’m learning a lot.

I’m a shifter.  No more anthropologie.com?  No problem.  I just shifted my shopaholic behavior from online clothing shopping to online vacation shopping.  And booking a hotel room isn’t really buying it.  It’s just reserving it, right?  Mike and I having been talking about planning a summer getaway for a while, but my sudden burst of energy toward the project was beyond obsessive.   In the end, I found a great deal and booked it (two kid-free nights in Naples, FL in July!), but I’m not exactly proud of myself.

So, Monday marked my mistaken first day post-rehab and I ended up at Pier 1 buying a $20 doormat for the front door.  It was not a necessary purchase – in fact it was silly – but it scratched an itch and it added some curb appeal to the front of the house.   On Tuesday, I entered a mall but bought nothing.  On Wednesday, my credit card was on fire, but not like you think.  I bought a baby gift for a good friend who just had her second boy, I had the most amazing brownies in the world (Fat Witch Brownies) delivered to a close friend who just finalized her divorce (I may have just ruined that surprise for her) and I donated $25 to Barack Obama’s 2012 Campaign.  The donation entered me for a chance to have dinner with the President…an occasion that would definitely require some shopping!  I bought all this stuff and none of it was for me and that’s a good thing, I think.  But was it the giving or the spending that made me so happy?

I’m not sure what to do now except get back on the wagon until it’s time to pack for Naples…or at least until Saturday when my spending freeze officially ends.  Until then, does anyone need help planning a vacation? 

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Filed under shopaholism