Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Gripes & Greats

Gripe: If you, large corporation, own a trademarked character/cartoon, such as...I don't know, I'll just pick THOMAS... you really REALLY should also sell the license to a company such as Wilton so that moms like ME can make their little boys very happy on their birthdays...instead of leaving us wondering how on earth we're going to pull off a Thomas cake with NO THOMAS CAKE DECORATING SUPPLIES.

I'm talking zip, zero, nada. I went to Cake & Candy World today, and as soon as I mentioned that I was looking for Thomas items, the clerk (who knows everything about cakes!) immediately said she didn't have anything Thomas because Wilton hadn't been able to purchase the license from that company (which also owns Bob the Builder!) for the last several years. Augh!

And a great!: Yesterday I explained to Leah that if she had a bad dream, I would no longer lay next to her until she fell asleep - that simply would not be possible once Magnus is born. I said I would tuck her back into bed, but that was it. And last night my resolve was tested. Darling daughter woke me up at about 2am. I repeated the new rule, and she just said, "Okay." I was so proud of her! No whining, no complaining...she just got into bed and went to sleep, after another hug and kiss. *relief*

Gripe: WALMART. I count on you to provide a variety of items in one location. Today I was expecting to find cream/white tights for Leah to wear for Easter and hoping to find a Thomas T-shirt for Ben to wear on his birthday, and maybe a CD of Thomas songs as well. But no. You let me down yet again. I could find NO white tights in Leah's size - not the coveted knit tights, not even the less acceptable microfiber ones. Nothing. Except black. NOT HELPFUL.

Also, I could find NO Thomas items, although I'm almost willing to give you a pass on that, based on my knowledge of HIT Entertainment's stingyness with their license. Man, are they missing out on some cash.

And why, oh WHY do you not have a maternity section? It would seem obvious, after a spin around your complex, that your average clientel is rapidly multiplying. Just a few basics would be welcome - jeans, t-shirts, etc...these are the things we count on you for! Get on it!

Great: After 2 weeks of sharing a bedroom, and a reminder every night that Ben is NOT to wake Leah up when he gets up in the morning, he FINALLY didn't! He has never woken her up before the permitted wake-up time (that we know of, anyway) but she is likely to sleep for another 15-45 minutes after 7am, whereas Ben seems to watch for the exact stroke of 7am. This morning, for the first time, he came into our room first, and when I said he could go downstairs and turn on the TV, he did! No whining for Mommy to go with him...he was all business. I was one proud momma.

7 comments:

Noel said...

To decorate the cake, I would use brown frosting for tracks and shredded coconut colored with green food coloring for grass. On the tracks, I would place a Thomas toy train toy that could be kept as a souvenir of the cake.

I can guess why Walmart doesn't have a maternity section: in our country of 300 million people, about 4 million babies are born in a given year. Pregnacies last about 9 months, so there are about 3 million women pregnant in the US at a given time. This 1% market segment is likely smaller than Walmart would want to go after. So why were you at Walmart instead of your beloved Old Navy or Target?

Lyz said...

Noel - See Cakewrecks.com for the results of brown frosting...:) Seriously - Ben's going to have the train of cupcake-sized cars, but I wanted a similarly themed cake for the adults, as easy as possible. No dice.

Kmart & Target both have Maternity - and Walmart has a decent Baby section...those babies are coming from SOMEWHERE.

Your attention to detail is frightening...I was at Walmart mainly in search of the elusive Thomas t-shirt, but also because tights, milk, and cheesecloth collided on my shopping list.

Noel said...

The only Thomas item sold by Walmart in stores is a book. Target's selection is much greater.

Unknown said...

Target is the place to be, Lyz. It is my Macy's. =D

Lexie said...

lyz, i love your rant about walmart... was just there today and yes they let me down... grrr. And yea, your kids are taking great steps into maturity (if that is what you want to call it) !

Lyz said...

Noel: Now you tell me.

Joanne: I'll be heading "home" tomorrow. (that would be Target.)

Aaron said...

I really like that both of your gripes are with commercial establishments (booo conspicuous consumption!), and both of your greats are your kids' accomplishments (yay Ben and Leah!)