Kids' Kloset Krazy!

First, I've always abhorred misspelling things on purpose. That being said, Kids' Kloset was a blast! I got there early and chose the red line (four lines, each with a different color). Following my KK-veteran friend's advice, I brought a rolling cart to put items in (not very big, like one you pull behind you at the airport). While I was waiting in line to go in, I noticed that most of the women had big empty laundry baskets, and some women even brought huge empty trash cans AND empty laundry baskets. There was lots of chatter waiting for the doors to open, lots of restlessness. Some women even did some stretching, I kid you not! Because I arrived early, I was fortunate enough to wait in the red line inside a little room off to the side of the big sale area. Shoppers who came a little later had to wait outside (it was a little chilly). Right at 4:30 p.m. a lady in charge picked a color card at random from a little box. Yellow. No! All the yellow line entered, including the yellow line outside. When all the yellow line shoppers were inside the sale area (think airplane hanger), another card was drawn. Green. Yikes! As the green line filed past me through the doors of consignment bliss, other ladies shouted, "Save us some!" Only two lines left... Purple. Aaaah!! Unfortunately, red was the last color picked to go through the doors. Oh well... there was still PLENTY to choose from; racks and racks and racks of everything that you would expect to be in a kid's closet! There were clothes, of course, but also games, books, videos, cribs, strollers, swings, bedding, shoes, playpens, desks, bags, toys toys toys, even wall hangings and potty chairs! I went straight to the girls' clothes, but I had a hard time figuring out where I was in the sizes. I finally found the 18-24 month section and began thumbing through the dresses. It wasn't as crowded as I thought it would be. People weren't pushing and shoving, but there was certainly an electricity in the air. For most of the shoppers, this was their bi-annual spree, and I could tell they have been looking forward to it. Ladies were friendly, excited, and moving through those racks speedy-quick! I started dropping cute little dresses into my little rolling cart. After about 10 minutes, my cart was full and I was frantically pushing everything down to the bottom to make room for more! Wow! The dresses were all great, and the prices even better! Most of the everyday dresses were between $4 and $5 (which is what we pay on eBay). After spending some time in the 18-24 months section, I worked my way down the rack to 2T. Because Mary is such a big baby (22 lbs. and a million inches long) I have to buy the bigger sizes to get the length I want (past her knees). About 20 minutes later I have packed my little cart to overflowing (I know Stephen's glad I didn't bring a big trash can!) and moved across the hanger to the toy section. So much! Well, to make a long story a little shorter, I shopped for about 2 hours and came away with 13 dresses, 1 sweater, 1 antique-looking rocking horse, 6 books, 1 puzzle, a set of alphabet blocks, and an amazing toy for Mary (pictured above - and that's not Mary). And all for less than $130! Mary likes everything so far, and I'm sure she's going to look so cute in all the clothes (especially the little sailor dress!). Now, with the shopping done, I have to put in my time working the sale. I work for three hours tomorrow and three hours Friday. However, with all the great deals, I don't mind it at all. Was it worth it? I think so. But I'll tell you for sure once we see how long the clothes last. I don't plan on buying any more for her until next winter, when she'll need some long-sleeved dresses. Well, my little one is waking up, so I better go. Happy Wednesday!