The rabbit dress

I love buying birthday presents for my kids. I enjoy it so much more than Christmas, because I only have one child to focus on and can really try to make it special.

But we have a budget to stick to. The budget hasn’t really shifted in all the years we’ve had the kids. The only thing we’re allowed to break the budget with is a bike. And if we buy a present that hits the budget e.g. a Kindle, that’s all the child is getting!

I hate that.

I want to buy them more presents, because I enjoy putting thought into it and I especially like the pleasure it gives them. But my husband is clear that we should stick to the budget. I realise I shouldn’t spoil them and they don’t actually need lots of presents, but just buying them one thing feels wrong to me. They’re not going to go short as there’s plenty of other family members that buy for them, but I’ve never felt comfortable with buying just one thing.

My daughter had asked for a Kindle Fire for her birthday. So that meant no more presents. I’d done everything else I could to make it special for her – banners and balloons and nice cards. I’d even ordered very expensive personalised photo wrapping paper from Wrap Me (no doubt the only blogger in history to actually pay for this stuff!), but it still didn’t feel right to me. I wanted to buy her something else!

We got my eldest a Kindle Fire for his 13th birthday and we didn’t buy him anything else. I knew I would feel bad if I bought her something when I hadn’t bought him something and then I just thought, sod it! She’s had a rubbish few weeks and I’d seen her slowly getting more and more down as she was unable to dance or walk. I hadn’t bought her anything to cheer her up while she was ill, her birthday was an opportunity to put a smile back on her face and get our happy daughter back.

So I didn’t tell my husband, I just went to Next to buy her a Tshirt or some trousers (she wears Tshirts most days, yet only has two that she likes). I found the trousers, but I struggled with a Tshirt and then I saw THE BEST DRESS EVER.

I just couldn’t leave it there. It’s a summery party kind of dress in monochrome and is absolutely covered in quirky line drawings of rabbits. Rabbits wearing glasses, rabbits wearing hats. Just rabbits and more rabbits.

I’ve had a thing about rabbits ever since I was a small child. When I made a wish it was always for a rabbit. We got one when I was 9 and I had rabbits right until my younger son was 1. When we got pets again, I always though it would be a rabbit, but in the end it felt like guinea pigs were the best option for us. It doesn’t mean I love rabbits any less though.

We don’t go for all these photographic images of cats, dogs and rabbits (often with tiaras etc) on girls’ clothes at the moment. For starters, my daughter doesn’t even like cats and dogs! But rabbits? Quirky drawings of rabbits wearing glasses (because she’s worn glasses since she was 3, we love anything with glasses on), that’s a whole different ball game.

I’d found the perfect present. It made me smile and, when she opened it, it made her smile too. She wore it for her family party and to her bowling party with her friends.

Now my daughter’s birthday could be special.

And my husband didn’t bat an eyelid that I’d gone over budget!

Now, manufacturers of girls’ clothes, can we have clothes with guinea pigs on, please?