For Better Or Worse

Monday, April 28, 2008

Marie is almost nine. Her friend, Kelly, is also nine. Marie and Kelly claim to have counted over a thousand other things they have in common, in addition to being nine. They are totally BFF.

On Saturday, the friendship was tested. As was my patience. And my Zoloft. Let me, if I may, give away the ending to this story. All three passed the test but it was sketchy there for a bit.

The morning was spent, as a lot of Saturday mornings are spent, with Marie and Kelly on the phone. There's always a lot of whispering and giggling and that sort of thing but they seemed to be scheming something in particular this time. Somewhere around ten o'clock, Marie came bouncing down the stairs asking where her shoes were.

"Where are you going?"

"Kelly's dad is taking us to Gardner Village. If you spend ten dollars you get a free Webkinz. I have that much saved and want to spend it on that."

Gardner Village is one of those old barns with out-buildings converted into a craft mall. It's full of quilt shops, antiques stores and other places that reek of potpourri and scented candles. Mormon women love this place. Men of all religions hate it.

"OK. That sounds fun for you. When will they be here?"

"Kelly said they had to go to the store then they would come get me."

Three hours later, Marie was still sitting on the stairs waiting for Kelly. Giant tears sat an the edge of her eyelids for a few seconds then landed with a splash on the carpet at her feet.

"I called Kelly and she said they forgot about me. She already got her Webkinz and started bragging about it. I told her I was sad and hung up the phone.

I really wanted to get one too since they are all out at WalMart and Target doesn't sell them any more. And today is the only day to get them.

Daddy... they FORGOT about me!"

She could hardly get the words out. Now the tears came to my own eyes.

Clearly, I had no choice. I would have to make the trek to Gardner Village so she could make her plush toy dreams come true. It was up to me to unbreak her heart.

"So tell me how this works again?" I asked on the way there, hoping to get it, get the prize and get out as fast as possible. She explained the promotion again. It seemed straightforward enough. Little did I know.

We perused a few shops looking for something worth the ten dollars we would have to spend. First we tried the candy shop. Ten bucks buys a lot of candy but it was close to the car. We could get this done in a hurry.

But the girl at the candy shop had no idea what we were talking about when we asked about the Webkinz. We tried the next shop, browsing for a few minutes, waiting in line and asking... No luck. They had no clue.

I was beginning to think Marie was a little sketchy on a few of the details.

Four or five shops, and ninety minutes later, a customer in one of the shops overheard us asking the clerk and chimed in, "oh, that's at the book store and it's only for another ten minutes."

As we sprinted across the compound I did a quick emotional inventory. I was surprised to realize that this wasn't agonizing for me. Normally I would be a total wreck by now. Is it possible my meds were actually working? They had to be. Not only was I not a moody bitch about the afternoon's events, I was actually enjoying myself. Marie and I were on an adventure and despite being a bit frustrated about how it was going, she and I were enjoying each others' company.

The transaction at the book store took no more than five minutes. We found a few books to complete a series she was reading, paid the cashier and picked out the mangiest Webkinz Marie could find from the bin marked "Free With $10 Purchase".

Now this is the part of the story where it becomes clear how little I know about females. Remember Kelly? Kelly that "forgot" about Marie? Kelly that Marie hung up on? Before we were even out of the store, Marie had my phone out of my pocket and had dialed Kelly's number and was chatting her about her new pet as if nothing had happened.

She was magically cured. And apparently so was I.

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Permanent Link: For Better Or Worse
Filed under: Family

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