Kid's Stores w/mini Play Spaces + Save 20% - 40% At Select Stores

Ok parents. The end of the summer has come and the beginning of school is just days away.  Hopefully by now you are getting the kids back on a regular sleeping schedule, your clothes shopping is complete, and your cabinets are stocked with groceries for healthy breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and of course snacks.  My bulletin board has been cleared for the wasteful sheets of paper schools will begin to send home when they should just use an email system while saving trees.

Yesterday, I took my kids to Roosevelt Field Mall to finish up our school shopping.  My daughter grew like a weed over the summer and everything is too short on her.  Everything.  We stopped by Justice and P.S. From Aeropostale which have become two of our favorite stores.  I especially liked the latter because of the Hopscotch board on the floor which occupied the kids while I shopped. The customer service was a bit snooty, but hey I'm not there to make friends.  I just wished the cashier had asked me if anyone helped me as she sorted my clothing.  I was ready to tell her how horrible the service was here and that the floor employees were more interested in gossiping than making sure I was finding everything okay.

Hopscotch at P.S. Aeropostale

Shopping at Justice wasn't any better.  No one asked me if I needed help or greeted me and I SWEAR the cashier threw my credit card back at me.  But I can't prove it so I won't worry about it.  Again, I'm not there to make friends.  I assume the horrible customer service means that they are paid by the hour and not on commission.  That makes a huge difference.

Another favorite store of mine is Gymboree which I could actually shop weekly if they changed their merchandise more often.  I love this store!  I love that everything is coordinated and I don't have to use too many brain cells to find matches.  Everything is matched down to the socks, hair accessories, shoes, and purses.  Boy did I clean up AND I received $75 in Gym Bucks to use when I return in a few weeks to shop for Valley Stream Son if I purchase $150 in items.  That's 50% off peeps! No problem there.

I also like Gymboree because they have a television area with seating for the kids to watch while I shop uninterrupted.  Bonus!!

No play area in Hanna Andersson, but Valley Stream Son found a not-so-secret place to hide.

After leaving Gymboree, we stopped over to the new Hanna Andersson which I have been wanting to visit ever since I saw the "Coming Soon" sign earlier this spring.  I get the catalog but never ordered anything from them.  The quality of the clothing is amazing AND they offer a LIFETIME guarantee on the clothing even AFTER the item has been worn and washed.  Who does that?  Hanna Andersson does.

I didn't buy anything yesterday, but I will definitely return before September 9th.  Why?  I can get an ADDITIONAL 20% off of my bill (exceptions do apply) if I bring in a gently used children's book.  Well, that's easy!  All of the books will be donated to the Long Island Children's Museum.  I'm not sure what the museum is planning to do with the books but hey, I now get to buy a $46 dress for $37.  Count me in!

I have this thing about public bathrooms, right?  Well, of course after catching my son do the potty dance out of the corner of my eye after eating lunch, he denied having to go.  As soon as we entered Hanna Andersson he had to go.  Valley Stream Daughter did as well.  I swear they're twins separated by 2.5 years.  Darn it!  I thought we had to go back to the main mall restroom, but we didn't.  Hanna Andersson has it's OWN restroom in the store.  SCORE!  It was extremely clean AND it had THREE hooks for my shopping bags and my handbag.  DOUBLE SCORE!!  I think it should be law to put hooks in public restrooms.  I wouldn't put anything on a restroom floor.

There's even a little stool!

My shopping experience was pretty good, but I would recommend taking back up to keep the kids busy while you shop in stores that do not have activities for kids.  To make sure things fit, you have to take them or else you'll spend more time returning things.  The kids seemed bored at times and I too got a bit frustrated but I had to get it done.  I feel pretty good that I did it.

Questions:
Have you finished all of your shopping?
Where do you shop?