Buyer's Remorse

I have taken roughly 1 million pictures of my 19-month-old child. In addition to those, I get her pictures professionally taken every few months. Portrait innovations has this sweet deal where you can get a whole package for $9.95 and I am really good about only getting the one pose.....usually! Today, I took her to get her pics taken. "Only one outfit?" the picture taker asks, "yes," I firmly respond, "we are only getting the $10 package." From the very start of the shoot I was taken. Every shot was adorable and before even viewing the pictures I knew this was going to be a hard selection. I could feel my resolve weakening which made me a ripe victim of the sales associate. Following typical protocol, we whittled the selection down to my favorite 7 poses. "This package is $99 and includes.... furthermore this is the last package that 3 sheets is $16," she informs me. Well, 100 bucks is way too much for a child with so many pics. I will never in my lifetime have enough wall space for 7 8x10s in addition to ALL the others. So, I tell her, "lets narrow it more. I don't LOVE these 3." Great! Now we are down to 4 poses, still too many, but do-able. Unfortunately, now that I have eliminated all those pictures, the price is $86. What? You mean to tell me that for $13 more I can get the whole package? Never mind that I don't love the other 3 poses, that's a steal! So, we go back through and re-add the rejected photos at which time she adds in 3 11x14 collages, like I am going to have space for those! I pay the $117 (totally duped I know) and immediately have buyer's remorse. What was I thinking? They're cute, but the one pose would completely suffice. Too late now. The damage is done. So I take my bulging envelope and leave this photo shoot with 7 poses of THE SAME OUTFIT!! with my tail between my legs vowing to NEVER do that again. I usually have such self control when it comes to these shoots. Oh well, I did get an awful lot of cute photos. So, I get them home and immediately start cutting out wallets to send to my siblings and friends. If I spent this much money on them, they better be put to use rather than sitting in the envelope for a year like the last ones. And what do I discover in my package? A CD containing all of the pictures, rejected and bought. To add insult to injury there is also a calendar, thrown in because I bought the largest, most ridiculous package I ever could have purchased. With the CD I could have spent 99 cents on every additional sheet I wanted to print. I was completely taken. She saw my weakness and went in for the kill. Maybe next time I should take an objective outsider to help restrain my spending on pictures that may or may not ever make their way onto my walls (apart from the original one of course). So to all of you lucky recipients of 7 wallets already headed in your direction, I apologize. Just times that by 8x10s, 5x7s and 11x14s and you will commiserate with my picture overload making your measly 7 photos in the same dress seem utterly insignificant. And don't worry, I have learned my lesson, and will never do that again!