Budgeting may kill us

In my big shopping haul I compared prices with many items, including laundry soap. We have been using the same fancy soap since we arrived. It's gentle on skin, etc. which I needed because I  had a baby. It didn't have much of a fragrance and we were fine with it. It was on the pricier side so I decided to shop around as my youngest is two and a tough little man.

I noticed that a different soap, also name-brand, was on two-for-one special and a whole pound cheaper than one bottle of my regular. So, being the new thrifty minded gal I am, I snapped up two feeling quite pleased with this find.

Then I started doing laundry. My four-year-old daughter, Carol, is finally going to bed without pull ups, but she's been having a few accidents. So in the middle of the night we've been changing sheets and I've been washing them. She has three sets of sheets and they've all be washed at least two times in the last 10 days - in our new bargain detergent. These sheets, along with the blankets, comforter cover, pillow covers and her personal blankie - have also been tossed in.

Two days ago Carol broke out in hives - big, giant, scary blotches and red angry welts, all over her tiny little self. She had a mild fever and complained about her legs hurting. She was itchy and cranky. And I blamed the school, the new magnetic chalkboard we just painted in the kitchen, something she ate, God, and everything else. Until I took her to the doctor who came right out and asked, "Have you changed soap or lotions?"

Oh. Errmmm....yes. The problem is ME! I switched the powder to save a few pounds and my daughter is suffering because of it. Oh, the guilt. If Catholicism wasn't enough - now this.

I have to wash absolutely everything of the kids again, twice with the old detergent. I SO love doing laundry. This is a fine punishment and what I get for blaming God, Country and School.

Lesson learned: cannot cut corners on the kids. I'll pay full price for the fancy, expensive, dye-free, fragrance-free, sensitive skin soap. I'll just keep my eye open for store discounts and vouchers for that brand instead. Maybe Costco has it in bulk?! I'm soon to find out.