MY SHOPPING HAUL

Ever wondered what the Alpha's daughter bought when she went shopping? Here's a list of what I got.

FOR MY LOCKER

Shiny holographic stiff wrapping paper to line the shelves

Black metal bookend in the shape of the letter "S".

A plastic pen holder with the magnet behind it to stick on the inside of locker door.

Four magnets shaped like large gummy bears. They look so real and gummy!

And a stick-on mirror that would fit on the inside of the locker door. I wanted a rectangle one but they only had them in funny shapes. So I took a star shaped one. Which, would be a tight fit because the pointy bits stuck out. But Savy said that if it didn't fit, I could give it to her.

FROM SAVY'S FAVE SPORTS APPAREL SHOP

I never meant to get anything. But it did turn out to be a good sale. And after jostling and seeing that I have to queue with Savy to buy her stuff, I decided I might as well see what I could get.

I'm sorry, I didn't really shop with my heart. That's just not what I do. Everything I bought, I bought with cool calculated rational.

Even for my locker (although they did look like fun stuff) was for practical usage and value for money. (I was at dollar store.)

Anyway, with sports apparel, I realized quite quickly that the real money savers came from larger ticket items. This, and the fact that I didn't want to queue for the changing room, I bought:

A pair white skateboard sneakers. Even though I don't skate. But they were 80 percent off and my size. Plus they were really unique - they had Velcro fastening. What respectable adult sneaker had Velcro fastening?

Savy didn't like them, "the Velcro is sort of elementary school".

But the design was like white with dull gold metal tabs. And I'm the type who was all for life hacks - which would be Velcro over laces any day.

I realize I'm defending my purchases at this store so much because I hadn't planned to shop here. I don't even really need another pair of shoes. But I bought them. Don't judge me.

A hooded sweatshirt with matching Capri sweatpants. Because they were the same price as a single gym jacket on its own.

They were grey but pale pink on the inside. I don't usually wear pink, but the color made me feel happy, and I figured, except for the hood, no one would see the when it's worn inside.

Actually, that's all I bought. Savy pretty much went crazy at the store and I had to lend her money, and would be paying for anything else we buy after this.

At this point, I had thought we might make an ice cream stop at most. Savy had so many bags, I had to take half of them. It would be impossible to go to another store.

But I was wrong. Savy had to stop at a pharmacy. She wanted, no, she needed this leave in hair conditioner or her hair would frizz and she would just die.

So since it was a matter of life and death, we went into the shop armed with too many bags to count.

FROM THE PHARMACY

While standing there waiting for her to decide if she wanted her original tried and tested conditioner or try the new spray version from the same brand, a display for a new range of shampoos and conditioners caught my eye.

I usually didn't buy these things, just using the generic ones my mum stocked at home, which weren't bad.

But this new range came in the most beautiful plastic pump bottles I've ever seen. They came in lavender, or baby pink, crystal blue, sea green... I studied them very carefully. The pink one had a scent called "happiness". What the hell did happiness smell like?

So I picked up a bottle of shampoo and the matching conditioner. So expensive. They cost the same as my shoes. I'm not sure if that showed how expensive these bottles were, or how cheap shoes are.

But the point I meant to make was that happiness had a price tag.

I looked at Savy's bottle. Beautiful curls also had a price tag. The cost of beauty and happiness wasn't cheap.

And they can all be bought in a bottle.

I sighed and took out the supplementary credit card my mum gave me, which was NOT for shopping.It's usually for when I helped my mum pick things up from gate city on my way home from school.

But I knew I still have some birthday money from last year in my night stand drawer. I'll return the money to my dad when I got home.

I didn't usually spend a lot of money, except on food... The normal me would have bought the locker stuff from the dollar store, and an ice cream sundae... not all the other things.

I don't know what came over me today. Maybe it's a teenager thing? I sighed. Being a teenager is expensive.

By now it was nearly 5pm. We texted my parents that we were heading home. I also texted that we bought stuff on the credit card and will return it when we got back.

Back home though, my dad said he'd pay for the stuff we bought at the pharmacy. Maybe its because of the word pharmacy, he thought it was something essential... As in like vitamins or actual shampoo. Not like spray on beauty or lather on happiness in fancy plastic bottles.

I tried to explain to him we bought fancy shampoo and conditioner. But he had waved it off like it wasn't a big deal, "It's still just shampoo and conditioner."

I wanted to tell him my shampoo and conditioner was the same price as my new shoes, but thought better of it.

After growing up postwar, my dad thought the scentless skin creams in white plastic tubs, and colorful liquid hand soap my mum had put at the sinks were part of the "land of plenty" that we lived in today.

At least my dad used shampoo.

Beta Lucas still didn't use shampoo or conditioner. Back then, a new bar of soap was a luxury. Soap was for everything. Dry skin was the norm.

But since they were not entirely stubborn, and had mates who knew how to buy personal hygiene products, Beta Lucas now used liquid soap.

If we had left household care essentials to these men, I'm sure we would still be hand washing all our clothes with that same said bar of soap.

Anyway, my mum, whom I knew could guess the true cost of the pretty bottles we bought said, "It's fine, Sam. Your dad said he wants to pay for it, so let him."

So I decided to leave it, and let my dad continue his happy existence without the damning knowledge that one could pay a premium for happiness to be added into his soap.

Mum returned to the kitchen, and I smelled butter and garlic on the pan almost immediately after. Dinner is going to be something good.

Savy had long disappeared with all her bags. I took my shopping and pretty bottles upstairs for a quick shower before dinner.

Savy popped by to my room just as I dumped the bags on my bed. She dumped an armful of dollar bills on whatever part of the bed the shopping bags were not on. "Keep the change!" She cackled.

Of course some of them land on the floor and under my bed.

"Hey!" I protested.

"They are good for your favorite dollar store." Savy cackled louder as she ran back to her room.

I looked at my bed covered with shopping bags and crumpled dollar bills. Grrr....

I wanted to ignore it and go try out my new shampoo. But knowing I'll never be able to enjoy it properly with the mess on my bed, I sighed and started picking up all the dollar bills.