There's a Place for Fun in Your Life

Today, I spent nearly 5 1/2 hours at the Mall of America with my children. The kids have a couple of days off school for the end of the quarter and both of them needed some warmer clothes, so, I told them we were going to the mall. 

I don't mind going to the mall when I'm not buying dress clothes for myself. I will even admit that I enjoy going to the mall in November in December because it's festive. I like to grab a latte and wander around reveling in the idea of Christmas. The mall did not disappoint in that respect because the mall staff were putting up the giant Christmas trees and all the decorations. Most of the stores already had their wintery wares on display.

But two hours into our mall trip to buy clothes, we had not been into a single clothing store. We had read aloud the names of every seasonal candy in the Lindt store. We had examined every bundt pan in Williams Sonoma and Miguel had tried the peppermint bark. We had been in every game store, including one where the kids played some Rubik's race game while I awkwardly chatted with the saleswoman about Crazy Aaron's Thinking Putty. For the record, she was VERY into it and told me how to make my own colors and what social media platforms to post pictures on so that I might be noticed by Crazy Aaron and his Thinking Putty minions. The kids sampled gelato and ogled the goods at Coldstone Creamery and then we had lunch. 

After lunch, Zeca was focused on getting ice cream and just as she dug into her bowl, we arrived at Old Navy which is the one store they wanted to go to for clothes. So, we sat and waited for her to eat.

I won't even go into the painful details about shopping for clothes but I had to issue the following statement: "We are not leaving this store until you have tried on at least 3 shirts." I did manage to buy 2 shirts for one kid and 3 for the other and that was it.

How about this clothing store? Ew.

How about that clothing store? No.

Should we look in there? Vigorous shaking of heads.

On the upside, this was a rare occasion during which they were in agreement on all things. So, we continued to wander. They tested every product in Lush and I do mean every product because, at one point, Miguel appeared beside me in a full facial. We smelled every new holiday scent in the Body Shop and Bath and Body Works (No, I don't have a sense of smell anymore. Thank you for asking.) We then went to Godiva and the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory where they stared into the glass cases without uttering a word. They even wandered into a tea store, though neither of them care much about tea. 

And just when they announced that they were done and ready to go home, we came to the Starbucks and Barnes and Noble - my happy places in the mall. I stopped, turned to them and said, "We will go home but first I am going to get a latte and I am going to wander around in the bookstore and you guys are going to be as patient with me as I have been with you." And you know what they said? Nothing. They didn't say a word and went willingly. Perhaps this is the first miracle of the holiday season.

So, I don't have much to say today unless you want to know the new scents at the Body Shop (Hint: Vanilla Chai).