The Last Tinker Bell Bathing Suit on Earth

Of course I bought it. The $35, last-one-on-Earth Tinker Bell swimsuit from the vendor on Amazon who said they had just one in a size 4, 37-43 lbs. It arrived quickly. The tag said size 3-4, 33-37 lbs. I sausaged Summer into it, and she was happy. I was not. They specifically said 37-43 lbs, and Summer looked like the Incredible Hulk about to burst the suit to shreds, instead of a diminutive wood sprite.

The return address said Cartoonfansclub.com. I called them up and a man, simultaneously conducting another conversation on another phone line in another language, assured me that if I mailed the suit back with a note, they'd send me a bigger one.

Their strategy, to list "one available" on their Amazon channel, had worked. I believed them and became obsessed with it, this one chance at redemption. For several days I woke up at 5:00 a.m., debating in my head whether I should allow myself to be extorted, and whether I was teaching Summer the wrong lesson.

Once it arrived, I didn't want to let the suit go. The guy at Cartoonfansclub sounded like he was just filling in for anyone who had a clue. What if the suit we had our hands on was really the last one? Who cares if it doesn't fit? I got the Tinker Bell suit back!

The guy assured me he'd put a bigger one aside for me. Having learned at least one thing from the scumbag idiot teenagers running the sprinkler park, I gave him my name. And I mailed away the suit.

I waited almost two weeks. I was prepared to mourn the loss of the suit AND the $35.00. And then Monday it came. The right size! Precious...

Here's the thing: I didn't really like the suit that much to begin with. Summer irritated me by wearing it every day and informing me with a toss of her curls that all the other kids at the pool, lake, sprinkler park, Tropiclandia, would be looking at her in her favulous Tinker Bell suit. But after we left it at the park, I felt awful. And once got the new one, I was way more excited than Summer was.

I can't stand for anyone close to me to ever feel the slightest shred of disappointment. I know that's not good parenting. The kids need to learn how to take disappointment, because life is full of it. But someday, I'm going to lose something of Summer's and I won't be able to find a replacement on eBay or Amazon or anywhere else. I'll save the lesson til then.

Comments

[Julie]

I saw a little girl in that same bathing suit at the water park yesterday and it was so stinkin' cute! Totally worth the hassle of tracking it down. In fact, I was just telling my sister last night that she should get one for my niece. Cowinkydink!