**Repost of a server-lost blog post from 8/22/09.  Boo hoo.  Forgive me if you’ve read this before**

Yesterday we visited the Museum of Science and Industry to see the Harry Potter Exhibition before it rolled on out of town. My husband was hell bent. The kids were looking forward to having a day with the rents. I was happy not to be working. Don’t get me wrong, I love Harry Potter, but that’s not how it always was, and I was skeptical because it was an exhibition. I’ve been let down by exhibitions before. That’s right, I’m looking at you, King Tut.

The HP Exhibition was lovely, and although we wished it had more of this, and less of that, overall we were all pleased. Everyone working within the event spoke with a British accent, for one, and that alone makes my day for some reason. As we Franks do, we went over and over it all and discussed every little detail while having a snack in the Brain Cafe afterwards, and we started reminiscing about the days before I started to love HP. Figuring out how our love for it all started, if you will. The kids thought this story was really amusing.

When A. was just a little tyke, like as in before he could walk (pre 1 year old), my husband started on the first book in the Potter series. We used to have time for reading before we had kids, and although that all ended abruptly for me once I gave birth (aside from children’s books, of course), he was still able to sneak some reading in once in a while. He likes it lots.

So we’re at Toys ‘R’ Us one night, way, way after Halloween. Like WAY. Christmas time, if I remember correctly. My husband, who is a hard-core discount shopper, sees this rack of old halloween stuff that is on some serious clearance. He thinks it was all a dollar, I think it was an additional 75% off of the marked clearance price of $1.00, but what’s $.75 between friends? Anyhow, my husband is also what I would have called a shopaholic at the time. He hadn’t yet come to grips with the fact that we didn’t have a pot to piss in, I was no longer working, and we had this small person I was pushing around all the time who appeared to eat dollar bills straight out of our pockets while we slept. Oh wait, we didn’t sleep at that point. Anyhow, he looks on the rack and he pulls out this Harry Potter robe. It was when the Halloween stuff was still made from semi-decent quality materials. This was sweatshirt material as opposed to the thin, nylon stuff they make capes and robes out of for costumes most of the time that gets all static-y and sticks to itself. Marked at $1.00! It was like a size 10 in children’s. My boy couldn’t even stand yet, let alone read, or do magic, and it wouldn’t fit him for YEARS. My response to the roomie was negative, of course. Something along the lines of ‘what are you thinking, he can’t even walk, he won’t be able to wear that for years, Harry Potter won’t even be popular anymore by the time he can wear it, you’re out of your mind, nickle and dime us to death….’ The usual. I know it was only $1.00, or maybe even $.25. But it would be lost by the time if fit him, or donated, or whatever. It was STUPID, and a total waste of money, even if it was a small sum. Of course I lost the battle because Halloween is my husband’s holiday and it was wasted breath to argue over $1.00, much less $.25.

I can totally admit when I’m wrong.  My baby will be a teenager this Christmas time, and that HUGE robe has been the most used item of anything he’s owned in his short life so far. It’s seen just a ton of use. A began wearing it when the bottom 2 feet still dragged on the ground behind him while he ran. We still have it, and both of my children have worn it, as well as many friends. I’m surprised it isn’t worn OUT. I swear I’ve washed it at least a trillion times. It has helped my son win many an award at HP book release parties (including the very first copy of Order of the Phoenix at midnight at our local big box book store, FOR FREE), has seen multiple cover shots in the newspaper, and been party to thousands of hours of magical play using nothing but that cape, a wand from Santa, and imagination. Of course Harry Potter is as popular as ever, and my little boy may have outgrown his cape, but not his love of magic and wonder.

Illegally obtained photo of Hagrid's Chair