Deal of the Decade

When I was a little girl, we visited my grandparents every summer. Everything about those visits was special, and highly anticipated. They were full of traditions.

When we went to church with my grandparents, my Grandma James brought along a special Sunday bag. It was vinyl, and decorated with a 70s-style pattern of bold colored flowers. Inside the bag were little toys and games to keep kids quiet during the worship service. There was one item in that Sunday bag that I always anticipated: a small, cloth Little Red Riding Hood doll. If you turned Red's full skirt inside out, you would find that she transformed into Granny. And if you pulled Granny's nightcap over her face, the doll would transform into the Big Bad Wolf, dressed in Granny's nightgown.

Hook me up with the doll and a few Tic Tacs or Lifesavers from Grandma's purse, and I like to imagine that I was quiet in my seat for the entire meeting. At least, that's how I remember it.

When I had daughters of my own, I loved the idea and the process of introducing some of my favorite childhood items to them.

My Sunday bag is definitely influenced by the items I remember from my Grandma's, and my mother's. When Katelyn was barely old enough to appreciate it, I spent hours (and probably a significant amount of my budget at that time) making a felt "quiet book." And whenever I would come across an item such as those little doodle pads where you scratch words or a design on the tablet with a red plastic "pen" and then rip the sheet from the waxy surface to start over (what in the world was that called?), or cute finger puppets... I got excited about adding it to the bag.

I'm sure it was ten years ago now, but I can still picture myself vividly, in T.J. Maxx, the day that I saw the dolls. They were just like Grandma's Red Riding Hood doll, but these were even more beautiful and elegant, with characters like Cinderella. I was tempted, and I mentally debated with myself over the purchase for several minutes, but I thought the price ($13 or $14?) was too steep. This was during the dawning of eBay, and I figured I could find a better bargain there. So I passed up that purchase, and I went home, immediately suffering from Tightwad's Remorse.

I did check eBay, a good place to find collectible dolls, and I found out that these dolls have a name: Topsy Turvy's. I also found out that they cost more money (+ shipping) on eBay than the T.J. Maxx dolls, which were NIB (eBay lingo).

But by the time I returned to T.J. Maxx, the dolls were gone. And in ten years of sort of paying attention, I've never seen them anywhere else. (Can you believe I've held onto that regret for a decade? Can I not think of anything else to worry about?)

One time my kindred spirit Gerb found a Topsy Turvy Little Red Riding Hood for me. Just the same as my Grandma's, only about four times as big. She's an expert bargain hunter, and a great friend. But unfortunately, that Red is too large for my Sunday bag.

Today I went to my local thrift store, The D.I. (In case you don't know, the proper name of the place is Deseret Industries, but if you appreciate the local color of my town, you call it The D.I.) It's a place I like to go when I'm not really looking for anything in particular, but I just feel like looking for something. (I am a Tightwad, but I also love to shop!)

A great big smile came to my face when, among the piles of stuffed animals, I found this:

And this:

And this:

A childhood memory and a motherhood longing satisfied, for a grand total of a buck fifty.