“Mama, I need basketball shorts and court shoes.”

“Mommy, I need a new baseball bat and a new batting glove because I lost mine.”

“I absolutely need a proper bag for my ice skates—it’s really embarrassing to wheel my old beat up suitcase into the dressing room.”

This is the way with kids, isn’t it?

Shoes, jeans, pants, bathing suits, jackets, snow pants, replacements for lost hats, mitts, scarves, socks. They need dresses to wear to friends’ Bat Mitzvah parties. They need hair clips and ponytail elastics and headbands.

They always need *something.*

x3

Last year, when Emily was full in pre-sleepover camp prep mode, we went on a desperate search for bathing suits for her. You see, the thing is, we are a non-bikini family.

Look, I’m not judging you—I’m just stating it for context.

If your girls wear bikinis? Lucky you! You can find them pretty much everywhere all year round and your girls probably love you.

If your girls don’t wear bikinis, like mine, finding one-piece suits and/or tankinis that are not overly babyish can be a bit of a challenge, especially when the girls are whining the whole time, “but whhhhhhy can’t we wear bikinis Mama?”

“BECAUSE I’M THE MOM AND I SAID SO.”

See also: Wearing makeup and high heels. 

See also: skipping swimming lessons and eating sugar cereal for breakfast. 

We completely and totally accidentally stumbled upon a store that neither of us had heard of before and we bought four bathing suits in the span of about 5 minutes.

We covered all of my criteria.

Does it cover all of her her lady parts? Check.

Is it age-appropriate? Check.

Is it the right price? Check.

Sold! 1, 2, 3, 4. Just like that.

But it wasn’t just bathing suits in Triple Flip that day.

It was like a Lululemon meets Aritzia meets Aeropostale meets trendy boutique. You know, all of the stores your tweens and teens want to be shopping at, except Triple Flip clothing is made for children and not for adults.

I won’t even tell you how many times Emily tried to convince me that she wasn’t swimming in an adult’s extra small. And it’s also priced for children and not for adults. That’s how the tweens and teens are these days—so eager to be grown up. And I get it, I don’t want to make them wear the same clothing as their 4-year-old cousins, but they also don’t need to be wearing the same clothing as ME.

Kids should be able to have style—their own style—but it should come from stores that are tailored for children, and they should come at a price point that doesn’t hurt my brain or my pocketbook.

So, when the lovely people at Triple Flip asked me to come with my girls to check out their brand-new Yonge and Lawrence location, all three of us jumped at the chance. Because we are already big, big fans.

Emily’s favorite purchases included:

1. barcelona sweater, on sale $29.95

2. smarty pant, $62.00

3. lace the day top, on sale $34.95

4. mirage top, on sale $29.95

5. babylon hoodie, on sale $39.00

Isabella’s favorite purchases included:

1. totes hoodie, on sale $29.95

2. aaryn top, $34.95

3. knitwits hat, on sale $19.95

4. sprint leggings, $49.00

5. hailey tee, $19.95

Note: Right now, with the code EXTRA30 you can now get an extra 30% off all sale items! Now is a great time to shop. There are tons of great sales on right now. Shop online, or search here to find a store near you. 

Triple Flip generously gave me a gift card to use toward our shopping purchase. Opinions and decisions about purchases were entirely my own. Well, Emily and Isabella’s own. But let’s be honest here—we had been many times before that day, and have been back many times since that day.