When I was a child, my parents gave me a modest weekly allowance.  It was designed to teach me how the save and spend money. They came up with a formula for calculating allowance rates, twenty-five cents a week starting on my fifth birthday, with a ten cent raise every year.  Saturday was allowance day 🙂

Sometimes I would spend my allowance right away, and other times I would save it in my bank, which was shaped like an upright antique wood stove.  In addition to my allowance, my grandparents would occasionally give me money that I added to my bank, along with the dimes my parents gave out for 1’s on my report card (our school used a numbered grading system instead of ABC’s, so a 1 was equivalent to an A).

Because I have always loved dolls, a large portion of my childhood savings was spent on dolls.  At first, when I was very small, I would buy tiny plastic dolls at Ben Franklin’s for a quarter.  Then came my Liddle Kiddle’s faze, where I saved up $1.79 – $2.99 to buy every different Liddle Kiddle I could find.

When I was eleven I started babysitting.  I earned 50 cents an hour.  I thought I was rich! With my new found earnings I took the plunge and opened my first lay-away account at the toy department of a local store.  For months I had been looking at all of the Madame Alexander dolls in the store.  Now I could finally buy one!  The dolls were much more expensive than any that my parents were willing to buy me for Christmas or my birthday, but I had my heart set on having a really “good” doll.  I already loved antique dolls and had I known where to buy one, I probably would have tried to purchase a china doll instead.  But eleven year olds then didn’t have all of the shopping resources that they have today, so I went with what I could buy at one of the major department stores in our town.

I would talk one parent or another into taking me to the shopping mall to make a lay-away payment every time I had $2 or $3 saved up.  I’m sure they must have gotten tired of making all of those trips, but I don’t remember them ever refusing to take me 🙂  Eventually the doll was paid for and I proudly brought her home.  Later my interest turned to clothes and shoes and I once again ventured into the land of lay-away to buy my first pair of heels.  Black patent leather Mary Jane’s with a much coveted one inch heel!

I still have my Madame Alexander doll and the Mary Jane’s and will always look back fondly on my first lay-away experiences and the joy of being able to save up and buy something special.  That is why I am  happy to offer lay-away as an option to anyone who wants to buy one of my dolls 🙂  How could I resist providing the same service to others, that allowed me to buy my first good doll?

If you would like to buy any of my dolls and place them on lay-away, just call 860-355-5709 or email me paula@asweetremembrance.com.  Lay-away is also a wonderful way to buy a custom made doll.