About Rebecca Eckler
Since becoming pregnant with her daughter Rowan, Canadian journalist and author Rebecca Eckler has penned three hilarious books, including the best-selling Knocked Up. Catch Rebecca’s weekly unique perspective on motherhood and single parenthood.
It’s that time of year again.
Time to bring out the winter gear: meaning mittens, gloves, hats, and scarves. I opened my bag of children’s hats and mitts and scarves and was pleasantly pleased (and shocked) to find that there were only two gloves that didn’t have matching partners.
Earlier this month, my daughter picked out two pairs of new mittens and two new hats. I’m hoping that this will last us through winter, but I’m not naïve. Hopefully, they will at least last until mid-December. So whenever I see a cheap pair of mittens or a hat, I tend to buy them, because, um, we’ll need them.
The other day I attended a craft show at my daughter’s school, a fundraiser to raise money for the school. At one booth, there were gorgeous kids' hats and matching scarves. They were adorable and made by Karen Clumpus of www.kissknits.ca. “Luxurious handcrafted knitwear,” is how she describes her items.
I didn’t buy anything, even though my daughter looked adorable in the hat with the huge red fur pompom on top. I was about to, though. My daughter had them on and I wanted to support the school. “So how do I pay?” I asked and Clumpus told me she takes any credit card. “So how much will that be?” I asked, thinking it would be around $50. Oh, how wrong I was. “That will be three sixty,” she answered. My daughter said, “three dollars and sixty cents?” to which Clumpus laughed, but I didn’t. Either the hat and scarf set was super cheap or, well…it was “or.”
“This set costs $360?” I asked in disbelief. It turns out it was true. Yes, the hat and scarf set were adorable and all handmade, but what mother in their right mind, who has a forgetful 8 year-old, would shell out three hundred and sixty dollars for a children’s hat and scarf? Obviously there are parents out there who do, or else she wouldn’t be in business. I had to go through the embarrassing process of saying, “um, sorry. I’m not going to pay $360 for a hat and scarf for my daughter, sorry, sorry, sorry!” I made my daughter take them off and we walked away from the table.
Even if it was to raise money for the school, I just couldn’t justify spending that kind of money on two things that I knew, with 98 per cent certainty, would go missing by the end of the month. And on my 8-year-old.
I’m not saying I wouldn’t spend that on myself for a hat and scarf (although I did just buy a winter coat for that amount of money) but would you? Would you spend $360 on a hat and scarf for your child? Rather, do your child’s hat and scarf set last an entire season? Thoughts?
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