The other day I went to Target to buy a shower gift for a friend. I printed off the list at the front of the store, grabbed a cart, and travelled off to find suitable items. I hadn’t been able to shop much with my current schedule, so it was like an unsupervised adventure into the wild. Oddly, I had been to Trader Joe’s in Indianapolis earlier that day. I was in Indy to buy a drink for my now 21 third child, Tessa. I LOVE Trader Joe’s and I had not been able to get to one in over a year. So, I found myself in Target fresh off a $300 Trader Joe’s extravaganza and right after a shopping drought. Trader Joe’s has the best lotions and soaps and I loaded up. Do you think that Trader Joe’s trip could tap down my Target trip? Please! 

The first place I found myself was in a cleaning aisle, looking at a fancy mop. It sprayed cleaning solution on the floor and had a replaceable mop head cover. I was looking at that mop and thinking how much I really needed this new mop! This was a premium mop, and didn’t I deserve a premium mop? When was the last time I got a new mop? I actually put one of these mops in my cart for myself, next to the one for my friend, before I remembered I don’t even like to mop. And when I have to mop, a swiffer will do the trick…and I already have a few of those. I also have a two year supply of replacement covers for the Swiffer because the LAST time I was in Target I was convinced that I was nearly out (I wasn’t), so I bought a bunch! So unless this mop could clean the floor by itself, I probably didn’t need it. Even if it could clean the floor by itself, I would need it to sweep/vacuum the floor first to avoid streaking the fur bunnies that collect from our pets shedding. So the mop went back. On a side note, I know that the Roomba will actually vacuum by itself, but my coworker got a call from her son the other day because one of the dogs had had an accident, and the Roomba had spread it all over the living room. She spent a good deal of time after that cleaning dog excrement out of the carpet and the Roomba. So, I’m going to pass on that too. 

But the unsupervised Target visit continued! Each aisle was full of shiney, organized items that I was sure I needed. There has to be a psychological disorder named for this phenomenon. I can’t be the only one because nobody gets out of Target for under $100. Inexplicably, I ended up with more soaps and lotions. Still not sure where I will put this bonanza of items. But if your hands are dirty and dry, you should come to my house. I have a two year supply of soap and lotion. Perhaps I should have wandered through the toilet paper aisle, because I will need to get some of that quite soon. Practical items didn’t make the list for me. 

All’s well that ends well. The shower was fun. Travis even figured out a way to wrap that mop (along with the other items I got). Didn’t think of the wrapping part. It wasn’t pretty, but it was covered. I recently heard of a buffet shower, where nobody wraps the items. They just put complicated bows on things and the guests walk by them and see what the happy couple got. I’m totally up for that, since gift wrap and gift bags are crazy expensive. 

Have a great week everyone! Stay away from Targetland!! You really don’t need a new mop, unless you think you do BEFORE you go to the store.