Sixth Grade Shopping Torture

It is cold today, and cloudy. We've had three nice days, which is pretty good for spring break. Molly had a friend spend the night, and they wanted to go to the mall today. Like an animal about to be slaughtered, I went right along.

I do not feel comfortable with Molly wandering around the mall alone yet, and so I go in all the stores she does. Anna also had to come along, and she wanted nothing more than to be the third BFF. You can imagine how well that went over. I also had foolish notions of buying Molly some much-needed spring clothing today. Molly is the worst decision maker even when fully concentrated on the task. She could not pick plenty. But that's another story. We bought no clothing for her.

Two sixth graders like stores I am very not interested in, and they spend long periods of time just standing and looking at things. B-O-R-I-N-G. I'm not much of a mall shopper anyway. I pop into a store, glance through the sale racks, if nothing strikes me, I'm off. I don't mosey around Claire's and pick up every pair of earrings, every scarf, every hat, every teeny tiny trinket packed into that store and make comments on it. Watching them was like watching sloths move across a branch. I was very aware of how they actually did keep me up last night.

Anna spent the entire time trying to be a big girl too. Normally she is not allowed to touch anything. I bent the rule and was immediately sorry when a pretend cell phone full of lip glosses catapulted across the store. There was a lot of stomping and pouting and disobeying to deal with.

So I came home surprisingly exhausted. Toddlers at the mall, understandably tiring. Somehow, I don't think this should have taken so much out of me. I'm starting to get why parents agree to hand their sixteen year olds car keys. Too bad I live far from a few friends and a sister who have only boys who might gladly take this task off my hands (minus the five year old).

In the middle of the trip my mother called from a flea market in Ohio, informing me that she had located two antique canoe paddles for a great price, did I want them? (My Pottery Barn inspiration, looking elsewhere for the actual goods). My mom used to put up with this preteens at the mall with a littler one in tow stuff too. I remember her standing in Claire's with me, the same brightly colored bangles in style too, me trying to decide which ones to get a friend for her birthday. I never remembered that part of my childhood before. At the time it never crossed my mind that my mother would want to be doing anything but standing in that store, spending her money on some rich spoiled kid instead of being able to buy her own child something. Or herself (in another store).

That's what mamas of girls do. My turn now. Someday, I suppose I'll be hunting down antiques to adorn my daughter's family room walls too.