Last week I made a spur of the moment dash to the supermarket, as we’d run out of toilet paper. I threw on a pair of runners and grabbed my keys from the buffet without giving a thought to my messy hair and my top that had been smeared with vegemite when the face of a little person snuggled into me for a cuddle earlier.
I made my way into the supermarket, headed straight for the toilet paper and along the way grabbed a few more items until I could carry no more. Lining up at the checkout I bump into a school mum, which of course had to happen in my unkempt state. We got talking and decide to grab a coffee. It’s 6pm but we’re kid free, so why not?
I pay for my items, which have totalled $46.45 and then we grab our $3.30 coffee. As I’m drinking, I’m hoping I’ll be able to sleep tonight and then I realise I should probably message my husband to let him know I’ll be a bit longer than what I thought I’d be.
“No problem. Did you buy the loo paper?”
Ha! What does he think I am?
“Yes”.
“What else?”
I ignore the message and I finish my coffee. My friend tells me she wants to get her nails done. I look at my hands and realise I could do with a mani, and as I imagine my favourite shade of red Shellac, I decide I’ll join her. We pay our $40.00 and on the way out we’re somehow magnetically drawn into a shoe store.
Half an hour later I walk to my car with a new pairs of shoes and my wallet is significantly lighter than before I jumped into my car. I total the purchases and realise I’ve just spent a lot more than $12.72 for loo paper.
I admire my nails and my new shoes but secretly decide it’s most definitely better to buy loo paper in bulk.

Vanessa Carnevale is the editor of Mindful Parenting Magazine. This new digital parenting magazine, came about from Vanessa’s love of writing, and an interest in living mindfully and embracing life to it’s fullest. The quarterly magazine is available via iTunes and at www.mindfulparentingmag.com.au