I've found some fabulous things in Charity Shops over the years, however, the pleasure of seeking them out tends to be greater than the pleasure of actual ownership. Often, prized items will be absorbed into the general blur of homelife and their origins all but forgotten. There are, of course, always exceptions to the rule. Some purchases refuse to fade into the background. This post is to acknowledge two such items.
The first item is a child's book. It cost me 49p and I bought it with several others that looked as though they had been donated by the same person. They were all in excellent condition and I knew my daughter would make good use of them.
Little did I know that this particular book would capture the imagination of my daughter in the way that it has. The book is called 'You Choose' by Nick Sharratt and Pippa Goodhart. Each page is packed with detailed illustrations from which the reader is invited to choose such things as places to visit, homes to live in, modes of transport, food, clothes, pets, careers, leisure activities, even which bed to sleep in.
Working through this book has become an important part of my daughter's bedtime routine. Her vocabulary has improved dramatically as we talk together about her choices and it has offered some great insights into the world of her imagination.
Her favourite page gives the opportunity to choose friends and family from a portrait gallery. She loves to find the images that correspond most closely to the important people in her life and has an uncanny knack of picking good likenesses. The image she chose for mummy and daddy made me smile. I love that she sees me as youthful and glamorous.
However, if I am to feel quietly smug about that, I can't ignore that sometimes she picks this one for me too.
We all have bad days!
My second item is another one I bought for my daughter. I think the reason that this one refuses to sit quietly with other similar items is because I came so close to not buying it.
I had recently been on a visit to my mum's where I bought a lot of china at the amazing price of 5 items for £1. When I later found a child's plate in my local Oxfam for 99p, it seemed expensive. I let the experience of my earlier purchases cloud my judgment.
I have to remind myself that each charity shop purchase has to be judged on its own merit. Trying to assess value and worth against the asking price in the limited time you have to make the decision to buy or not to buy can be tricky. I am very glad that I threw caution to the wind and parted with my 99p to become the owner of this lovely La Chaise Longue china plate.
I absolutely adore it and can't believe I ever hesitated.
