Shopping

I know that I am a girl and girls are supposed to love to go shopping. I hate shopping.

Maybe I would enjoy shopping more if it weren't for a number of factors.

1. Things cost money.

I probably wouldn't mind shopping if I knew that I didn't have to pay the bill that came later. I was raised to be thrifty (my husband's word for cheap) and it is very hard for me to spend money on myself. I have friends that are not so financially encumbered as I am and I find myself on occasion wishing I were them.

2. Nothing ever fits.

I have a weird shaped body (read that as fat) where the clothes I want to wear just don't look right on me. Trying clothes on in a dressing room with the extremely flattering florescent lights just enhances the experience.

3. I have no time.

I don't live super-close to any mall and have to battle traffic and/or miles in order to do decent shopping. Very hard to squeeze in shopping when I work and have 3 young kids. I'm sure if numbers 1 & 2 were not a problem, I would probably find the time.

4. I have 3 young kids.

Last night I went to the mall with all three kids. I clearly am in need of a lobotomy, or heavy drugs! Sarah is fine (behaviorally), it is just that she is now in the tween (can it be-she is only 7.5) I like to be pretty & fashionable stage. I spend much of last night telling her that she can't get things. Megan is getting better, but it is hard to keep a 4.5 year old's attention when there are so many distractions. The baby just is too needy at this point. Try maneuvering through stores with a full size stroller, it is impossible! I knocked half of everything on the floor. It is so not worth it.

The main goal of this shopping excursion was to get Sarah her Halloween costume and to get outfits for our upcoming family picture. The outfits were easy; I had already scoped out

what I wanted at Gap Kids (the only time I have purchased anything at this store other than things on clearance). I wanted nice outfits, but did not want to go for the typical "holiday look". The girls will be dressed in outfits with similar colors of white, pink, orange and black. the look is based on this dress that Megan will be wearing.

The Halloween store was pure torture. The aisles were ridiculously small and crammed with crap. Sarah went into the store wanting to be a "Army girl". When she saw the soldier costumes and they were too "boyish", she changed her mind. We then had to spend the next 30 min trying to find something that was appropriate for a 7 year old to wear. (Don't even get me started on the state of Halloween costumes these days- everything is way to revealing and "mature"). We finally settled on a costume that looks like a cross between a witch and a vampire. Megan has been telling us for weeks that she wanted to be a cheerleader (or "cheater leader" as she says). I was thrilled because that is a costume we already own! Of course, while in the store she changed her mind. I did all I could to get her back on the cheerleader bandwagon, but she was having no parts of it. At least she chose to be Belle from Beauty and the Beast. We already own a dress, so I only caved in and bought the tiara and shoes to match!

This painful experience was capped off by Megan's tantrum when leaving the mall because I didn't let her play in the germ-infested kiddie play space. I got an odd look from a female security guard as I told Megan, who was laying on the floor, that I was leaving whether she was coming or not. I made it about 10 feet from the doors to the parking lot before she yelled after me to stop. I did have to listen to a chorus of "I hate Mommy; Mommy is a meanie" the whole way home, but at least we all survived.