Sunday, April 20, 2008

And she let out a contented sigh

Today I went shopping with my kids. Normally the very thought of doing this alone strikes a deep panic in my heart, but today it was fun. Wanna know why?

My oldest daughter likes to shop!!!!

People, rather than spend four hours in mall stores threatening the child with "If you don't try on this skirt I am going to staple your ears to your forehead, young lady!" and then mumbling under my breath, "Of course, I don't know why you're even trying on a skirt since you don't wear them...." I instead stood side-by-side with my daughter and we looked through clothes and laughed and giggled and gave sidelong glances at the chick with hot pink hair and multiple facial piercings to go along with the glare that I have a feeling is perpetual and I really think that Abby secretly wants to look like that even though she told me that the gal was scary, but heck I remember wanting pink hair when I was a teenager. Oh and look - it also appears I have perfected the run-on sentence.

Anyway, my daughter and I, we shared something today. I showed her how to go straight to the clearance rack and walk out of Limited Too not with a second mortgage on your home, but instead walk out with two shirts, one skimp, four bracelets and three pair of earrings for under $30. She spit ice at me when I made fun of how she walks in heels. I told her that she couldn't have that particular shirt until she grew some more boobage. She rolled her eyes and acted miffed, but two minutes later she had wound her arm through mine and laid her head on my shoulder as we walked and quietly said that boobs were overrated.

Kady has always liked to shop. Heck, in utero she would kick extra hard when she knew we were in the vicinity of a bargain and she knew how to read the words "clearance", "markdown" and "SALE" when she was a mere toddler. But Abby has always been her own person, probably more of a daddy's girl than anything and I was okay with that because not everyone gets utterly giddy at finding a sale on boy-cut underwear or $1.99 earrings like I do. I knew she loved me even if she didn't like to shop. She and I shared a love of books even if we didn't share a love for all things retail. She was happier with a fishing pole in hand rather than a shopping bag. And really, I was okay with that.

But now.....oh now we are like two war captains heading to battle when we enter a store. One goes one way, one goes the other and we shriek and squeal to alert the other of impending victory when we find THE exactly perfect hot pink skull shirt or open-toe shoe. Kady followed us around all day with little hearts coming out of her eyes, knowing that someday....someday she, too, will be a professional shopper like her mom and older sister. And when she declared that the sale prices in Gymboree weren't low enough to impress her my heart nearly burst with pride. Oh yes, she is well on her way.

Sam spent the day stepping on our heels as we walked, hiding in clothing racks and sighing. He declared more than once that we don't spend as much time in Bass Pro as we do in the mall, but I assured him that time is relative when you're doing something you love. I learned long ago, though, that when shopping with a male you buy yourself more shopping time if you stop at Great American Cookie Company when the sighing becomes more frequent than every 15 seconds. After a colossal M&M cookie and some time off our feet, the boy was ready to go again, smiling happily with chocolate all around his mouth. He is certainly his father's son.

Those girls, though.....they are all mine.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Nati's first word was "shoes". She can still spot a shoe store (and now a Starbucks) from a five mile radius. Her daddy needs another job, she will soon be a teenager and he really can't afford both of us and our shoes!

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