I love it when a plan comes together.

So I'm at the office this morning, gettin' mah work on, when I get a call from a gentleman named John Keats. He works at the KBtoys home office, so I wasn't surprised to be getting a call, per se. What did surprise me, however, was the way that he identified himself: "I'm John Keats, and I'm the Director of Smiles for KBtoys."

Now normally, all you people, I'd laugh someone off the phone for telling me something like that. This fella, though...this fella was so kind and wonderful and gracious that I cannot bring myself to mock the corny title. Number one, because it's not untrue; he made ME smile. Number two, because he told me the very great news that not only will they be giving us a twenty percent discount off of the top, but that the company wants to cater to us so that the children can have the best shopping experience possible.

This means they will have extra staff at the store and make the store available solely to us on the day(s) and time(s) of our choice. I don't know how many of you guys are aware of how retail operations go, but this is unheard of. Not only will most retail chains NOT staff extra people (equalling payroll dollars they have to shell out) but I've only heard of the rich and famous having the run of a store. KBtoys has even offered to open up to two hours early if we'd prefer to get there when there is light foot traffic in the mall.

Dig that!

Shortly after I got off of the phone with Mr. Keats, the District Manager, Tom Edwards, called me. This man is on vacation, you people, and he called me. He even gave me the number to his mobile so that I can call him at my convenience. You know what he said right before we hung up? "It'd be really good if you are able to give us at least a couple of days' notice, because we'd like to have extra things at the store for the children."

He was talking refreshments, I know for sure, and then he threw in a cryptic 'other things'. THESE PEOPLE ARE GOING TO LET KIDS SHOP AT A DISCOUNT, HAVE THE STORE TO THEMSELVES AND THROW THEM A LITTLE SHINDIG. KBtoys is doing all this, and they don't want a shred of press for it. To quote Mr. Keats, "We just like to help."

All of you are welcome to drop an e-mail letting them know they are wonderful (be sure to mention all these people's names, as well as Aurelia's...she is the assistant manager where we will be shopping and is a pure-d sweetheart). You could also shop there regularly. I did before, but I am most assuredly a loyal customer now.

Oh yeah, hit the button, buy a kid a comfort item! And now that we have a system in place, those of you that would rather buy gift cards and mail them/have them shipped to me are more than welcome to do so. Please email me at JettSuperiordon'tputinthispart@gmail.com and I'll give you any information you might need.