BUYING STUFF IN THE 11TH HOUR- the TARGET DRAMA (needing to be specific here, because believe it or not, there are additional BUYING STUFF IN THE 11TH HOUR categories):
Since the golf course is closed, Mini had Monday off that last week. I arrived home from driving Tank on Sunday evening. She laid out her Monday plan: Target.
She'd asked me to go to Target the week prior.
Me: Thanks, I'll take a pass.
She was taken aback. I urged her to go with Tank before he left, combine forces. I'd already accompanied her to Bed, Bath & Beyond. I'd also done Kohls with her. I'd also sat at the computer and ordered stuff. I'd pivoted when the sheets that arrived weren't the right navy for her taste. Returned them to Amazon and ordered others. A line needed to be drawn.
I'm not a monster. I gave her my credit card to go to Target.
Besides I was going to start babysitting on Tuesday and I had my own things to focus on. I'd just driven 6.5 hours to Omaha with Tank and another 6.5 hours home, solo.
*There are a few driving stories from both Georgia and Omaha that I must share at some point. Who will remind me?
Needless to say, that day after my long distance drivers I had no interest in driving anywhere 'extra.'
Mini went off to Target. She'd informed me that her friends were bringing SO MUCH MORE to college than she was. This was confirmed during her many 'last hurrah' encounters with friends. She rattled off things they were bringing to college - things that, I quickly pointed out, she doesn't use, like vitamins or hair products or body pillows. She was upset with me that I wouldn't allow her to buy a set of drawers for her dorm room. "Everyone brings extra drawers." I begged to differ. The dorm would have a closet, a dresser, and/ or a wardrobe.
Chill out, no drawers were necessary. These were words I spoke BEFORE I saw what she planned to pack. A wardrobe fit for her and 11 of her closest friends. I'm getting ahead of myself. 
It's great that pictures speak a thousand
words, because I'm speechless on this one.
An hour after Mini left for Target, she called me. I was relaxing on the deck. I'd decided to enjoy a bit of me-time on this, my last day off before babysitting.
Mini was sobbing.
I sat straight up on my lounger, assuming she'd been in another car accident.
Mini: (in a breathless whisper) I lost my wallet. (more wailing and explaining)
Me: OK, have you looked through the cart? Did you retrace your steps? (yes to both) OK, go to customer service and see if someone turned it in.
Mini: Where is customer service?
Me: (thinking to myself: did I raise you in a cage in the basement - how do you not know how to find customer service in a Target?) It's at the front of the store, ya know - where you pick up orders or return stuff. I'm going to get ready to go pick up Curly (that was part of the plan, she was going to leave Target and pick up Curly from her workout at LA Fitness and drop her at the high school for volleyball practice).
Mini: (still whimpering) OK, I'm really sorry. (sob, sob) What am I going to do? I had everything in there.
Me: GO TO CUSTOMER SERVICE.
I hung up and ran to change out of my bathing suit. While I was upstairs my phone rang. I ran back downstairs, just missing a call from Mini. I called her back.
Mini: (insert calm voice) I got it. They had it at customer service. It's fine. I can get Curly. Tell her I might be a few minutes late. I'm in the checkout now.
This is a tiny 7 second clip of the girls doing some sort of impromptu dance routine the night before we left to drop Mini at school.
Later I told Mini how lucky she was.Mini: Well, we live in a nice area.
Me: (STARING AT HER WIDE EYED) Still, anyone could have just taken your money. My credit card. Your 2 gift cards. You are LUCKY.
A bit later, Mini shared with me that she saw just about everyone that she knew at Target . . . and they were all shopping with their moms.
No guilt here. I'd already told her that anything she needed at Target could be ordered on Amazon and arrive the next day.
Then Mini shared with me that her bestie pulled into the parking lot right next to her car as she was leaving. *A week later, I asked her if Bestie's mom was with Bestie. She was NOT. I rest my case. Mini tried to argue that Bestie buys new clothes daily and is the most independent person that she knows, so not a fair comp.
Mini: Bestie double over laughing (in the Target parking lot) when I told her I cried twice in the store. Once when I lost my wallet (which by the way, had the keys to the car attached because it's a lanyard) and once when I lost my phone. Did I tell you that? Before I lost my wallet, I set my phone down on a shelf and realized later that I didn't have it. I went back and found it. (here she mentions the various people that we know who she passed along the way while she was crying).
Me: OK, Notre Dame. (I've become accustomed to calling Mini 'Notre Dame' when she behaves in a slightly flighty way. It has gotten used more than I care to admit).
Can you believe that Mini told me, while smiling and sort of nudging me, that had I been with her, she wouldn't have lost her wallet? This entire adventure clearly needed to be experienced as one of her time-to-go-to-college growing pains.
They handed her an actual key for her dorm room when we brought her. I think she was hoping for a keycard like you get in a hotel. Anyone want to guess what she loses first: her key, her school ID, her phone, or her entire backpack? Dear God, I do hope that she has gotten that out of her system.
26 comments:
Oh, Mini. After a few times of losing her key or her college ID and having to pay the fine, I'm sure she'll figure it out. I have been guilty of leaving my phone on a shelf in a store and realizing 5 min later that it was gone, so I can't cast stones.
One of my daughters would regularly lock herself out of her room - because she would drift across the hall to get some hot water for tea and then the door would lock behind her. I stopped asking how much she had to pay to have security let her back in.
I tell my kids to buy stuff after you get their - Amazon and Target delivers. They all have my account info so why haul all this stuff?
My husband did the 6 hour up and 6 hr back to get my son to school this weekend. I got to sit at home and eat pizza. Next year we'll just have him bring stuff to a storage unit by school and have him fly.
I just love the Mini stories...because I'm not her mom who has to pick up the pieces - ha! College will be so good for her to learn even more responsibility and she'll surprise you I think!
I recall Anna telling me about all the things her friends were getting for college. Sigh. Mini will be fine once she gets there. Thankfully, they travel in packs. 😂
On one of my many shopping trips with Sarah, we got to the car after leaving Bed Bath and Beyond and Sarah started freaking out that she didn't have her phone. We checked Life360 and my phone and it showed her as being in the Bed Bath and Beyond. Thankfully it was right where she left it when we were looking at mirrors. I hope Mini has the best year ever!!
Oh mini! Her phone, wallet, and keys all in one shopping trip!
I have found several wallets in my day; I think 2 at target and took them to the Customer Service desk. (Hello, Notre Dame, it's at the front of the store where it has ALWAYS been! 😉) So, she's not the only one who has lost her wallet. But really....I also hope she's gotten it out of her system.
She's got a lot on her mind, so many new unknowns. She will do great!
Oh Mini! Hopefully she knows how to read her class schedule. My dear husband only went to half of one class his first semester because he thought TR meant Thursday not Tuesday Thursday. He wondered why it moved so fast. (He ended up dropping the class.)
Does Mini know how she keeps all of your reader friends entertained?! Isn’t the purpose of the lanyard to hang around your neck so these things don’t happen? She is one unique and special girl. That is quite a lot of stuff she planned to take to ND. Did it all actually go? Loved the video clip - I just wish we got to see more of the dance.
mbmom - Mini has pointed out that no one locks their doors in her dorm. Hmm. Not sure that is the greatest idea either. I do hope that this little scare has her a bit more focused on tracking her things.
Tank doesn't have a lot of stuff to leave in storage, like furniture. It's mostly clothes and bedding and a few decorations. I like that the stuff comes home, because I'm not confident that it gets washed. Coach would've liked to drive him out there, because he still has friends in Omaha since he went to school there. This year he agreed to teach a class and it landed on the weekend Tank needed to be at school.
I sent Mini some things that she forgot with my Amazon. We had plenty of room in the minivan when we dropped her off, but we have talked about how easy it is to get things these days as a college student. How did we manage before Amazon?
Colleen - Mini keeps us all laughing. We are laughing with her, for sure. She is able to laugh at herself, usually.
Kari - Mini brought more clothes than she can possibly wear. She ended up buying a hair dryer. Something she never uses, but she recently had her haircut by the woman who does my hair and Curly's. She was like OH, MAYBE I SHOULD GET A DIFFUSER? Because the woman blew her hair dry and gave her some good curly hair tips.
Mini loses her phone within the walls of our home multiple times a day. So, this might be interesting.
Beth - Mini was like I TOOK A PICTURE OF MY LIST WITH MY PHONE, SO I COULD ONLY SHOP WITH ONE HAND BECAUSE I KEPT LOOKING AT MY LIST. IT WAS HARD TO SHOP WITH ONE HAND. She's put her phone down before when we shop for clothes too. I'm always saying she should put her volume up, so when she calls it we can find it. I guess that isn't a 'thing' for teens.
Thanks, I'm sure she will have an amazing experience. I'm excited for her.
Suz - Yes, she was laughing at herself later . . . DID YOU KNOW I LOST MY PHONE FOR A LITTLE WHILE TOO? I mean - why would this be different than any other day? Goodness.
She has told me that her friends are in awe of how infrequently she has gone to stores solo to buy something. Maybe she is just busier than her friends, because I usually get the things she needs. This reminds me of a story of her favorite scrunchy - something she bought on her own. I'll have to share that story in my next Mini installment. Still, she HAS been inside a Target before.
She has been a tad overwhelmed. The size of the campus alone has been daunting for her. She seems to be getting a handle on all of it.
joymaire - Oh my gosh. I love this story. How funny is that? I mean, it's funny now. He missed half of the classes. Oops. I know she gets which days her classes happen, but she was nervous about finding all of them. She did a dry run the day before classes started to see if she could find them all.
Pat - I don't know if she knows how often her antics land on my blog. It is a good question - why not wear the lanyard around her neck? It would seem to solve so many of her issues. I don't think I have to tell you how much I miss her. The house doesn't seem the same. It happens each time one of them leaves for college, but a little different with a girl, who liked spending time with me. She took all of the clothes that she wanted.
The video clip - these girls. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Well, they sometimes just get up during a meal and choreograph something. If I continued to video, they would have stopped dancing immediately. I'm not sure they even noticed that I took that short snippet.
Mini, Mini... this child is going to need to keep track of her stuff better. A lost phone, a lost wallet? As for shopping by myself, my mother encouraged that. I think she wanted to avoid my teenage angst when she could. Don't blame her.
That sounds like a lot of last minute jitters! Stress manifesting in all kinds of ways.
It costs $250 to replace a lost key at my daughter's dorm! So expensive! Their ID serves to unlock the main door, and the elevators (the dorms are in a high rise in the city- fantastic views), but the actual rooms are still keys.
We wound up buying my daughter a three drawer plastic bin for under her bed, a bookcase, a 2x4 IKEA cube thing, and a bathroom caddy. Because there wasn't enough storage options in her dorm room. Just a small bureau, a file cabinet for the desk (no drawers in the desk otherwise) and the world's smallest closet (which is too high for her to hang stuff in unless she's on a step stool).
Has she seen her room? I can't imagine fitting an extra set of drawers in most of the residence rooms I've seen - even Eve's super single. Eve packed the wardrobe and drawers with her stuff in an admirably efficient manner.
Eve did lose her keys once - key card to get into her residence and use the elevator and the actual key for her room. Fortunately she left it on a bench where she was reading and it was still there when she got back.
I applaud the making her do some stuff independently now. Good practice.
I'm sure Mini will get better at keeping track of her things - a few incidents like that are great learning experiences!
I guess all your college kids are gone now? Things must be pretty quiet (well, relatively quiet) around your place!
How frustrating for you and probably her too! I hope she does well at college and doesn't lose too many things! Your post brought back so many memories of my daughter when she was a teenager!
Oh my word! She's in for quite an adventure this year. I hope this was a huge learning experience for her. My mom always said, "The hardest part about raising kids is when they turn 18!" My daughters are in their 30's... and mom was right!
Ally - yes, she does need to track her things better. I gave Coach little tracking sticky things for his birthday because he can't stand when the kids lose the remote. We tried to put one on her phone, but it was too cumbersome. Mini and I both enjoy shopping and enjoy shopping together. When she needed a gift for a friend, she went with her pack of friends. Everything else has been provided for her, so this was a whole new world. I was like - you've been with me at the store, how are you this clueless? Baptism by fire, I guess.
Kara - You are probably right - nerves playing a role here.
Mini's room had very little storage. I'll have to describe her bedroom set up in the next post. Lofted bed for a 6 foot girl is not ideal.
Ouch, replacing the key is pricey. Hoping Mini holds on to hers.
Ali - We did not see her room before we arrived. I suspected there would be no space for extra drawers, but I also assumed she'd have a dresser or a closet. Um, she had neither.
I'm hoping the key and her ID and all of her stuff is not lost.
I didn't dawn on me that she hadn't shopped for herself much solo. We enjoy shopping together, so I'm usually with her - or her group of friends. I have sent her to the grocery store before too. This college gear gathering was an eye opener.
Nicole - I do think it was a good learning experience. Hoping she retains the knowledge moving forward. ;)
My 3 college kids are off at school. The house is more quiet now, at times. Of course I've started babysitting and my high school kids don't go back until Sept 6th due to the building being under construction, so maybe 'quiet' isn't the right word. Ha.
Jeanette - It was scary for her and frustrating or maybe 'jolting' for me. Getting a kid calling me crying is not easy. I'm going to have to agree, realizing that things will never be the same - that she has flown the coop and will only ever be here temporarily is tugging at my heart. It is, of course, the end goal. Still, so hard.
Cindy - I botched my responses and answered part of your comment to Jeanette. I think she will learn so much - lots will be learned outside the classroom. My guess is that she might appreciate her mom a bit more.
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