Small Successes (vol. 2)

Faith & Family has a regular Thursday meme called Small Successes. They describe it as follows:

It’s important for moms to recognize that all the small successes in our days can add up to one big triumph. So on Thursday of each week, we do exactly that.

And as for me, here goes:

1. I hosted several friends in my home twice this week and it was mostly presentable (even better the second time!). On Monday, Shana & I watched 7 little ones (Livy was the oldest, 2 toddlers & 4 under 1 year!) as part of the babysitting co-op. We had our hands full, but it was fun. When all the mommies came back, we enjoyed homemade chicken tortilla soup for lunch. This morning, the whole group met at our house for a rosary and a few moms stayed for lunch (leftover chicken tortilla soup). They said it tasted good!

2. Inspired by one of the original Small Successes entries by Danielle Bean, I washed the dog bowls last night. They were awful. Poor Red!

3. Yesterday, I had the best luck with returns ever! I purchased 2 Ultimate Crib Sheets when Olivia was born and LOVED them! When Violet came along (and we added another crib), I purchased two more. Much to my dismay, they had redesigned the sheets and the new ones had plastic snaps (that broke the first time I used them) and a different fabric (that pilled the first time I washed them & felt like sandpaper). I called the company to complain and they said they would mail me 2 replacements. The first set got lost in the mail so they sent another set. I ended up getting 2 sets, but they said they didn’t want the extras back so I found myself with 4 expensive crib sheets that I didn’t like. I took them to Babies R Us to see if I could get store credit, but they’ve changed their return policy since the days I was a regular there and they didn’t want them. We went to Target next and I was 99% sure they wouldn’t take them as Target had a fairly stingy return policy as far as I remembered. Much to my happy surprise, they took 3 back (each customer is limited to $70 in returns without receipts per 12 months)!! So I ended up with $60 in Target store credit!! JR will be able to return the other one and we’ll have even more!! It was like hitting the jackpot – I got my original $40 back from the ones I purchased & didn’t like and then got an additional $40!!

Aside: In my experience, whenever I have been dissatisfied with a product and contacted the company, they have always tried to make it better for me. When my tortillas spoiled before the date on the package, they sent me coupons for replacements (3x what I had purchased); when a kaleidoscope got scratched in shipping with another item in the box, they sent a replacement; when my carseat baby mobile quit playing music, the store gave me a refund. In my experience, it definitely pays to ask (consider the manufacturer or the store you purchased it at)!! Besides, the worst they can say is “Too bad.”