On Second Thought . . .

I may or may not have mentioned in the past that whenever we go anywhere, whether near or far away, Darcy and Peyton seem to load up half the books in their room, journals, decks of cards, a stuffed animal or two, stationery, pens/pencils/markers, etc., and cart all these things with them. This habit has stood them in good stead whenever we've been anywhere for any length of time that holds only limited interest for the girls; a good example is from the ballpark this past summer. The girls were always happy to take notice when Tyler was up to bat or when he was pitching, but otherwise they were much more interested in playing games with their friends. And that's where their everything-but-the-kitchen-sink bags came in very handy!

Well, we're going to be taking some vacation time and flying to Dallas in a couple of weeks, and I wanted to get the girls their own backpacks for the plane. (Tyler has received a couple of backpacks as gifts in the past so he and Sawyer are set.) I had been to Kmart recently for something (oh yeah, Science notebooks) and recalled seeing rows upon rows of backpacks still available after the back-to-school rush, so last night I loaded up Darcy, Peyton and Sawyer (Tyler and Randy went to a Clippers game with JP, Ben and Cooper Blackwood--yes, Cooper went to Cooper Stadium) and went to check out the leftover supply.

Darcy is currently in the midst of a BIG Tinkerbell phase. I mean BIG. It is akin to the obsessive preference Peyton once had for all things Strawberry Shortcake; that obsession has since petered out. Darcy's interest in the Disney Fairies began with Rani, the Water-Fairy (don't worry, if you've never heard of her, neither had I until Darcy enlightened me) but she gradually switched her allegiance to Tink. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, there is Tinkerbell merchandise to be had EVERYWHERE (good if a certain someone has a birthday coming up, bad if you're just planning a quick trip to the grocery store and instead have to stop and admire the lunchboxes, pencil cases, dishware, you name it).

Anyway, naturally we were in the hunt for a backpack with Tinkerbell emblazoned on it, an item that I was sure existed so that was not an issue. However, you know how eight-year-old girls are, or maybe it's just MY eight-year-old girl: She mulls and ponders and compares the virtues of one pose, one color, one feature over another. I could see this wasn't going to be an easy choice for her.

She found a Tinkerbell backpack at Kmart that did seem very cute although I must confess I don't remember what the picture on the front looked like. What I remember are the wings. There was a Velcro strip running vertically up the length of the bag's back, and a pair of gossamer wings were attached to it. As far as I was concerned, this should have been a deal-closer. Those wings were SO Darcy. However, complicating her choice was the knowledge that a number of weeks ago, we had made a trip to Kohl's and had seen, not only a Tinkerbell backpack, but also a very cute messenger bag. I would have loved to buy it for her on the spot and in retrospect wish I had followed my instincts, but we had not planned our trip to Dallas at that point and I saw no need for Darcy to own a messenger bag--after all, where does she need to carry her books? Of course I'm kicking myself now (see first paragraph).

Darcy was hesitant to settle on the Kmart backpack with the memory of the Kohl's bags still fresh in her mind, and frankly I didn't mind taking a trip to Kohl's because I had a 15% discount coupon burning a hole in my pocket and I was hoping to get a better deal than Kmart was offering ($24.99 each--ouch!). So off we went to Kohl's and, surprisingly, their backpack supply looked remarkably untouched except that--you guessed it--the very cute messenger bag was gone. Oh well, you snooze, you lose. I had actually looked at a messenger bag at Kmart and was not convinced it would hold all that Darcy would want to jam into it anyway, so perhaps it's for the best. I am determined to look on the bright side!

Many of the backpacks hanging on the wall at Kohl's were extremely similar if not identical to the offerings at Kmart, with one notable exception: There were no Tinkerbell backpacks with wings. Uh-oh. I basically left Darcy alone to allow her time to mull, ponder and compare to her heart's content while I assisted Peyton in choosing an appropriate backpack for herself (pink and white with an embroidered butterfly) and Sawyer leafed through a book. I could see that Darcy was struggling between her choices but I'll tell you right now, for me the hunt was over. I took one look at Kohl's sale price of $12.49 per backpack and knew we were done. But how to convince Darcy of that?

Predictably, Darcy finished perusing her choices and came to me with her final decision: "I'd rather have the backpack from Kmart." Great. Here we go:

Me: Why do you want the backpack from Kmart?
Darcy: I don't know, I just like it better.
Me: Why do you like it better?
Darcy: I like the picture on it.
Me: What did the picture look like?
Darcy: Um, I don't remember.
Me: Darcy, is this about the wings?
Darcy: No, I really like the one at Kmart better!
Me: Darcy, I'm sorry, but I am not paying $12.50 for a pair of wings!
Darcy: But Mom, I like the other one better!
Me: Darcy, these are HALF the price.
Darcy: But Mom . . .
Me: Darcy, these are HALF the price!

It is worth mentioning here that among all the "preferable" colored Tinkerbell backpacks, there was one lone bag whose primary color was black with a really cute picture of Tink on the front that sort of "popped" and the frame of the backpack was this sort of electric purple. Just the sort of backpack Darcy would normally gravitate toward. But again, no wings. So back to our conversation:

Me: What about that black backpack?
Darcy: I don't like that one. I like the one at Kmart.
Me: Darcy, if this is about the wings . . .
Darcy: It's not! I really like it better!
Me: Well, I'm sorry, but I'm not paying twice the price for a backpack at Kmart. I just can't do it. So you have a choice: You may choose one of these backpacks here, or you may use one of those pieces of BROWN luggage that we have in the basement.

I could see her cringe at this suggestion, but she said nothing. Instead, tears slowly pooled in her eyes as she came to terms with the knowledge that I was not going to cave. In my own defense, I was very kind during this whole exchange. You might read the above conversation and think my voice was like, "Too bad, so sad, take it or leave it" but it wasn't like that. I was very patient but firm. I don't know why I felt compelled to clarify that, but I just thought you should know!

Darcy slowly trudged back over to the wall of backpacks and I could see that she was fingering them, but she wouldn't pick one up. After a moment I said, "Okay, well let's go buy Peyton's backpack and head home." She lingered for another moment as I turned to make my way to the checkout lane, but then I heard Peyton whisper, "She got one, Mom!" I just smiled.

And now we come to my favorite part of the story, the part where we waited to make our purchases. Inexplicably, right at the entrance to the checkout lane that I chose there was a little stash of backpacks, maybe four in all. And out of those four backpacks, there happened to be one with a picture of Tinkerbell emblazoned on it. Want to know the colors of the backpack? Black and electric purple--the colors Darcy "didn't like." Ah, but what's this? A pair of WINGS on the back! I could see that, even at the age of eight, Darcy suddenly understood the concept of "eating her words." I cannot describe the look on her face as she glanced at me (you could almost hear her whistling nonchalantly), then took her chosen backpack and switched it for the one with wings.

How many of you would have said, "A-ha! I knew it was about the wings!" I am proud to say that I did not smirk, I did not say, "I told you so," nothing. I simply complimented her on her choice and told her what a pretty backpack it was (and it really is!).

The kicker: When Tyler and Randy got home from the Clippers game, Darcy was still up so she came downstairs to hear the recap. After Tyler was finished talking, she said, "Hey Tyler, want to see my new backpack? It has WINGS!" I told you so.