LIFE WITH MY CHIDREN PART 5

ok....this will no longer be in chronological order. I'll just write about things as I think of them.

When Tammy and Buddy were very small, we didn't have a K-Mart or a Wal-mart. But we did have an Arlens Department Store ...similar to K-Mart in prices. I didn't make much money, so a shopping trip to Arlens was a big treat.

The week before school started, I'd take both kids to Arlens for new school clothes. They always started school with one new outfit and new shoes. And they got a new outfit with summer shoes for Easter. Otherwise, the local Goodwill was my store of choice. Both kids were just as happy to get new clothes from Goodwill as from Arlens....and the clothes were usually better, too.

At one shopping excursion to Goodwill, along with Avanelle and her two girls, Phyllis with her daughter...as well as Aunt Susie and her youngest, all the kids were excited. It was May, so we were looking for summer stuff....shorts, sandals, etc. We had told them to pick out what they liked. Those six kids were like locusts! This particular day, Goodwill was having a $1.00 bag sale. Everything you could get in a bag for $1.00

When I went through the bags Tammy and Buddy had filled, I found clothes too big for them..too small for them....and too fancy. My aunt and cousins were having the same problem. We went through the bags and took out the things we didn't want...but the kids did. There was a lot of bargaining, bribes and tears...from the kids. What I remember mostly though, is the laughing. Us adults. When Avanelle's youngest put on a bra....Phyllis's girl put on shorts, a couple of shirts and a dress....all at the same time. At the end, we walked out of there with a bag of clothes for each child and each one looked like it was Christmas!

When we got to Avanelles, we had to have a fashion show. That's when we discovered that the three youngest girls...Tammy, Suetta and Debbie...had walked out with new shoes ...which we had not paid for. I couldn't feel too badly about it because Tammy had left a better pair there. Still, all three got a paddling and a lecture about stealing.