A Year Without Wal-mart - 2009

We're not ones to make "New Year's Resolutions" or anything around here, but the other day CKB said he had an interesting idea that he'd tell me about when he got home from work. I was intrigued, naturally.

At dinner that night, I remembered his phone call and asked what the idea was. He said, "A Year Without Wal-mart." I let that sink in for a moment or two and thought, why not, there are MANY reasons this would be a good idea.

A few:

Every time I go in Wal-mart, I feel like I need to walk through a decontamination booth on my way out - you know what I mean, just touching one of the carts is all it takes - placing a child (or two) in the cart...well, you might as well buy some cough medicine, decongestant and antihistamine before you leave because you'll no doubt need it within a few days.

Rude people. 'Nuff said. (I will say it was especially bad around Christmas - pushing, shoving, etc. and that was still a few weeks ahead of time - ugh!).

So much stuff. Every time I go in there for a few things, I come out with a cartful it seems. It's just a tad too easy to get "one more thing" - hopefully this will help us in thinking ahead more on purchases and hey, maybe we'll just save some money by staying out of there!

In the days following this decision, my mind now and then would start thinking about the different things I have bought at Wal-mart...groceries, shoes, clothes, electronics, craft stuff, fabric, towels, Mr. E's big boy bed, etc. etc. etc. and how would I manage without my "one stop shop" for a year?

I can get all of those things at other places, it will just require more thought out trips and no unnecessary trips since the children are with me all the time. I will probably visit actual grocery stores more often, actual craft stores (Michael's, Hobby Lobby), fabric stores (Jo-Ann, Hancock, little quilt shops, etc.), shoe stores (Payless, department stores), actual clothing stores (Kohl's, Bealls, etc.) and well, there's still Target (I'd stopped buying the girls' jeans at Wal-mart a year or two ago anyway because all I could find was low rise/waist versions and the ones at Target were still decent and just the basic style, so no big deal here).

So, we're off on a new adventure. CKB has just a few more days to swap out a shirt Miss A got for him for Christmas that wasn't the right size...at Wal-mart...and then the experiment begins, Jan. 1, 2009. It'll be a challenge in some respects - I'd planned to get Mr. A's big boy bed there to match Mr. E's in a few months when we have to boot him out of the crib for Miss Baby - other than that I can't think of anything that's going to be a big deal, just a little bit less of a convenience maybe. We'll see..... And, for what it's worth, this is not any kind of boycott, just a family experiment.

Anyone else care to join us? ;)