My Big Shopping Adventure

I got such a tickle out of what counts as a Big Adventure to this mama, I thought I'd share . . .

On Wednesday, I took all four of my children with me to a department store to go clothing shopping for myself.

And that right there is enough that your jaw should be hanging open.

I'm the one who doesn't even take my children grocery shopping, right? I shop online for food and clothing as well. And I figure Amazon is going to take over the world pretty soon considering that I use it for anything else I might need to buy.

For years now, I've done virtually all my shopping online. With so many companies offering free returns, I buy even multiple sizes and simply return what I don't want to keep. Easy sneezy! I can think of two times in my married life I've stepped foot in a department store: I'm sure it's not that few, but you can imagine it isn't much more than that.

Self-perception of
my dowdy winter-wear (photo source)

So yesterday came along and I realized that I have mostly winter-wear and it looks rather worn and dowdy to me, and I surely did wish to have a few outfits more fitting for vacation at the beach. With the Easter triduum coming up, there was no way to go shopping on the weekend, so dragging all the kids with me was my only option if I wanted some clothing.

I loaded us up, started driving, and only then paused to think, "Where are there some clothing stores?" I thought I knew of a strip mall with some big anchor stores, so I drove there. Shows you how much I know my local stores: the stores I was seeking weren't even there, but there was a Ross Dress for Less, which would serve me just fine, thank you!

After giving a pep talk about Good Store Behavior to the kids, in we marched. The children were agog with wonder at this strange store full of racks of clothing. They had no idea what all the long mirrors were for, what were those "whistles"? (the electronic security devices clipped on clothing), "you mean people steal clothing?!" They were completely flummoxed when we went to the fitting rooms to try on clothing ("what are you doing, Mama?!") and the clerk counted my items before I entered.

I started to fall into peels of laughter as I walked these three bug-eyed children (and one baby) through the store and I thought to myself that not so long ago (one measly decade), the person who I was spent most Friday nights after work shopping for clothing as a hobby. You can imagine my bulging closets what with new clothing weekly! Such vanity and frivolity . . . .  Now my closets are bulging only because I have wardrobes in four complete sizes plus maternity to reflect my body size going up-and-down like a seesaw with pregnancies! My, how times change.