Picked Hannah up from nursery at lunchtime today and she was so excited. We were going to take the train to Chelmsford and have a girly shopping trip.
The train trip was a huge hit. Hannah was skipping around Chelmsford, high as a kite from the train experience. We did quite a lot of "mummy" shopping, and not a lot of Hannah shopping, but it was so different from what we normally do, Hannah was still having fun.
I hardly ever do any kind of shopping with the children because it's too stressful. It has to be so boring for them, it's not surprising they look for diversion, get frustrated and play up. Plus when they were smaller, having to worry about where to breast feed, where to give them lunch, where there would be child friendly toilets/baby change areas, buggy friendly shops etc. was just a hassle.
After a little while we thought it was time for tea and cake and we headed for M&S Café Revive. Hannah had told me all about the colouring in that is a part of the M&S picnic lunch boxes so she was keen to repeat the experience. I had to explain she wouldn't be getting a lunch box, because she'd had lunch but that we'd see if they had colouring in anyway (marketing to kids is so easy). Hannah chose apple juice and cake, and I had a coffee. One of the ladies behind the counter asked me if Hannah had had lunch. I was thinking it's 3:30, what kind of mother does she think I am, and does my daughter look undernourished (answer – no)? I replied that she had. She told me they had some lunch boxes left over from lunch, would Hannah like one? Of course, not wishing to look a gift horse in the mouth, I said yes.
What a bargain, £2.99 worth of stuff (well selling price, worth probably more like 60p) for free.
Anyway I still needed to pay for coffee, juice and cake, handed over my cash and received my change. It was then I thought "I gave her a £20 note, and this is change for £10". So I explained, and the assistant said I'd given her £10.
Now I was sure I'd given her a purple note, which is a £20, but I started to doubt myself. I said I honestly couldn't remember and not to worry. I went and sat down with Hannah. Then a manager came over and offered me £10. I explained I honestly didn't know anymore what note I'd given the assistant and that I expected they'd only know when they did a till reconciliation at the end of the day. I offered her my name and number should a discrepancy be discovered. She told me that it "didn't work like that these days, that recons were done at the end of the week and that £10 either way would be a drop in the ocean". That made me feel old. So she insisted I take the money. She said if I discovered I was £10 up, I should just buy Hannah something, but £10 was neither here nor there for M&S.
So I might have got £10 I shouldn't have, as well as a free lunch. Who said there was no such thing as a free lunch?
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