Five Below

Some years ago when we had gone to New Jersey to visit my brother- and sister-in-law and their children they talked about a store called Five Below.   I think the store came up because we had mentioned the dollar store and my undying love for shopping there.

Had we heard of it?  We hadn't and when we found out the store had a similar model of low price-point items, everything costing five dollars or below, well, as you can imagine, I needed to go check it out as soon as possible.  

We went and I shopped.  Everyone shopped.   The children got some things to entertain themselves while we were on vacation.   Or, and I might possibly be remembering this wrong, I bought them things I thought would entertain them because the children were too young to effectively shop for themselves.

Not two weeks after returning home, I was at a shopping center I went to from time to time and noticed a, "Coming Soon: Five Below" banner.   Once that store opened, I frequented it, most notably during the holiday season for stocking stuffers.  

The children like the store because as a reward for good behavior or when they met some goal, they could ask to go to Five Below and pick out any one thing they wanted.    My son made sure to get the maximum value and usually selected something costing five dollars.   For the longest time, my daughter only wanted the ten pieces of candy for one dollar as her reward.

A few weeks ago I noticed they were opening a Five Below closer to us.   Today was the grand opening so I messaged Margaret, asking if she'd like to go with me to check it out.   She and I spent a long time going up and down the aisles, not really trying to buy or not buy anything, but looking at everything a store could procure and offer for five dollars and under.

I did get some things.  I even got a 3'x5' rug for five dollars.  I brought home some fun items and some useful things to keep the children (and me) entertained.   I like the total bill amount at Five Below.  It doesn't ever get that high.

The Big Boy Update:  My son was part of The Big Bang at school today.   He wore a black shirt with a picture on the front but when it was time for the third years to do their rendition of The Big Bang, he and the other students turned their shirts wrong-side out.   He wasn't specific as to what happened after that, but he enjoyed being part of the demonstration.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter helped me make a braided tug toy for my best friend's new family dog.   Her children are finding out tonight that they're getting a dog, a golden doodle, and are bringing him home.  We took the neon pink, orange and green felt sheets that stay in the children's bedrooms and are used for tent making and cut a three-inch strip off each color.   She helped me braid the strips into a colorful tug toy.   Our dog wants to play with the sheets of felt the whole time we work because her tug toy is also made from strips cut off those same sheets.    I don't know if we'll get to meet their dog, which they're naming Remy, tonight or tomorrow.   We're all excited to meet him.