The other day, I heard Kate yell from the living room, “Mom!! We need to buy Wonder Hangers!” Then she came running to me and said breathlessly “We need to buy Wonder Hangers! You can hang FIVE shirts in the same space it takes to hang ONE on a regular hanger!”

Do you know what she’s talking about? These:

Apparently they show infomercials on Nickelodeon.

Later, I was bemoaning the state of her room, and she reminded me that her closet would be MUCH more organized if she only had Wonder Hangers.

She’s also convinced that her dad is going to buy her a Snuggie for her birthday.

A few days ago, she asked my grandma if she would buy her a BumpIt.

Because every five-year-old needs a beehive.

And so it begins. We can’t really hold her responsible for her inclination to be interested in anything marked “As Seen On TV!” The poor girl comes from a long line of people who are suckers for infomercials.

Case in point: Yesterday I actually considered buying her a BumpIt. (And yes, I can see you all cringing.)

I was somewhat concerned about the message I’d be sending to her if I did buy one, though, so I sought counsel from my BFF Jess. I emailed her:

Kate’s the flower girl for the Miss Basketball ceremony at the high school basketball game. The other day she told me she wanted a Bump It and I’m thinking of getting her one for tomorrow night, to give her a cute little hair do. Is that ok or is that crossing the line into cheerleading wigs and high school breast implants??

I knew Jess would give me good advice, and as I suspected she stopped me from hitting the “Buy It Now” button with her response:

Whatever you do, DO NOT BUY THE BUMP IT! I think it’s a fantastic idea in theory, but those things are a piece of junk. I bought them and could not get it to work right and it looked so silly. You should try “making” a bump it by teasing her hair… look online or YouTube or something!

Crisis averted. I did not waste any money or risk taking the first step toward Kate’s debut appearance on “Toddlers and Tiaras.”

So as you can see, Kate’s predisposition toward getting ripped off is an unfortunate side effect of her genetic make up. Need more examples?

My dad is the proud owner of a Swivel Sweeper.

Andy’s mom has given us the Pasta Pro and the Moving Men (both of which we still use, I might add), and just this Christmas she was the happy recipient of a Perfect Brownie pan (I totally want one of those – I love corner brownie pieces!).

This little “issue” we all have goes back even further in the family tree – recently our grandma told Jenny she wished she had a credit card because they sell a lot of things on TV that she’d really like to have. I’ve made a mental note to keep credit card applications away from her and Kate.

Speaking of credit cards… where is mine? I really want an InStyler.