Cinderella

Sometimes things just work out.

Reese has been asking and asking for a Cinderella dress. I searched DI and classifieds and Etsy and online and Kid to Kid secondhand shop. No smashing deals.

I finally gave in and went to Wal-mart. Would you believe that on their hangers with princess dresses there was only one Cinderella? I would have been totally in luck If I had wanted a Tiana or Belle dress, but I had to dig to find the Cinderella.

So when I brought it home and put it on a very excited Reese, there was nothing I could really do when I found the sleeve was torn. I could try to take it back but then what? No. playing with a torn dress was just the way it would have to be. And play in it she did. Every day.

A couple days later, Will and I were again at Wal-mart looking for a bath-toy storage solution. No luck in the baby section, so we decided to try the toy section, just in case. We find what we were looking for, but we did find a Cinderella dress. I hadn't noticed it before because it wasn't on a hanger- it was in a box. It was packaged this way because it came with a tiara and shoes.
AND

it was less than

two dollars

more than the dress I had purchased.

Ug! I lamented to Will how I had just taken out the garbage before we left- containing the packaging and probably the receipt the the dress we had. I couldn't just take it back used without the receipt. "But is has that torn sleeve," Will said. "Yes! The sleeve!" I exclaimed. "Will, you're a genius!" I suddenly didn't feel guilty trying to return it. People return defective products all the time.
When we got home, Will fished the Disney dress hanger (complete with barcode) out of the garbage can so they could just scan it in instead of look it up at the register, and the next day we were on our way to get the new dress package. While in the car, the receipt magically appeared on my lap. It must have been hiding under some junk in the car. Woo-hoo. Then- get this- The new dress, which we expected to pay about two dollars for after the return, was actually about FOUR DOLLARS LESS!
I went home a very happy mother. And Reese loves the crown and "glass slippers" so much she takes them to bed with her.