What a day! I spent the entire day with my daughter and my mother. We are all very close and yet very rarely do we take the time to spend the time. Today I am glad that we did if for no one else than for my daughter. She has had a rough string of days of late and to see her bouncing with excitement and sheer bliss meant so much to me. She is always asking for a "girl's day" but her mother is always playing catch up at home (note to self: you'll never catch up).
My mother has been wanting to go shopping with her granddaughter and to have her spend the night and today was "the day." My daughter did not know about these plans until late last night. When I told her she began shrieking and jumping up and down. The best part was when she kept saying, "I'm so excited! I'm so excited!" (Although when she said it it sounded more like one long word: I'msoexcited!...and it was said with a smile so wide it made me wishing I were a kid again).
The first thing we did after picking up my mom, Grandma, was to park at one end of her town's Main Street and shop hop. We oooohed and ahhhhhed at all of the way too expensive items and touched everything we could. As soon as one of the three of us were on opposite ends of the store one of us would call over to the others to "come see!" For the most part we had the stores to ourselves as it was a "work day" (hee hee). After all of four stores we were hungry! We drove over to a Chinese Restaurant and each had a plate of sesame chicken; our favorite! We had to drive back to Mom's to put all of our leftovers in her fridge before heading off to S.A. My daughter kept hinting that she wanted a frappacino, "..since it's such a special day you know." I'm not real keen on getting a habit like this started (I didn't even start drinking coffee until I was close to 30). However, something deep within tells me that she is not going to let something as trivial as my rules keep her from doing what she wants (pray for me now). And so, in the end, I agreed and we ended our night at Starbucks (I have close to 10 gift cards from students) sipping caramel frappacinos (my first). We are such social losers that Mom and I had to call my sister and my sister-in-law to get coached on what and how to order. When we requested that our drinks be caffeine free we were told that they were all out of decaf. WHAT? We had to wait 10 minutes before they could "mix it up" for us. I'm telling you...stick around with this blog and you will learn that these sort of "things" happen ALL THE TIME to myself and my family.
All in all our stops in San Antonio included Justice for Girls, Ross Dress for Less, Target, and Barnes & Noble/Starbucks. We walked into Justice (my daughter's favorite place to look) and right away she wanted the entire outfit on display. For those of you without young kids, a pair of shorts, a t-shirt, and a single pair of tennis shoes does not at "outfit" make. Kids these days must wear layers of clothes thus translated as: $$$. One must have the coordinating headband, shoes, bangles, earrings, tote bag, leggings, mini skirt, tank top, t-shirt, and jacket. Please keep in mind that these kids grow hourly. My mother and I did what we thought best: we stood my daughter in front of the mannequin and rattled off the price of every single item...out loud. When the total came to $90.00 FOR 1 OUTFIT we gave her the look that includes the raised eyebrows and the tight-lipped smile with a slight downward nod of the head. She got the message and we walked over to Ross Dress for Less.
Today was truly her lucky day because EVERYTHING my daughter tried on not only fit but looked fantastic on her. Earlier in the morning I had prepared her for the fact that just because we were going "shopping" didn't necessarily mean we were going to be "buying." But when you're hot you're hot! The little stinker ended up with an entire new wardrobe, probably close to 11 outfits (that are all interchangeable), and we only went $35 dollars over the cost of the single outfit at Justice! She even walked out of Ross with 4 pairs of shoes! "Train a child in the way he should go..." Amen!
I had fun waiting for my daughter to come out of the dressing room each time she tried on a new outfit. Usually I am in the room with her, but this time Grandma and I sat in the room opposite her's and were her captive audience. We could see her ankles only but knew she was happy by the bounces, twists, and pivots.
We giggled and we held hands. We hugged and we tugged. But mostly we shared time and love. I am very grateful that I have a daughter to experience these moments with...and I do appreciate that they are just that...moments. I know to hold them close because they may not happen has often as I would like...but then again...maybe they will.
I did not get home until after midnight and when I called to let everyone know I was home safe and sound Mom told me that she and her granddaughter were probably going to stay up one more hour. They were giving each other massages and telling stories. My daughter told me, "Mom...I am SO EXCITED!"
Maybe that is why I am not even sleepy now at 1:57 a.m. I, too, am so excited that my mom is able to spend some time with my daughter and my daughter is able to spend time with her grandmother. There is nothing that makes me happier than knowing that my kids are happy. When I walked in the door of my house a little after midnight all I could see was the blue flicker of our television. My son's head was craning over the back of the chair searching for me. "I've been waiting for you to get home" were his first words to me.
My family may be dressed for less but my heart runneth over.
My mother has been wanting to go shopping with her granddaughter and to have her spend the night and today was "the day." My daughter did not know about these plans until late last night. When I told her she began shrieking and jumping up and down. The best part was when she kept saying, "I'm so excited! I'm so excited!" (Although when she said it it sounded more like one long word: I'msoexcited!...and it was said with a smile so wide it made me wishing I were a kid again).
The first thing we did after picking up my mom, Grandma, was to park at one end of her town's Main Street and shop hop. We oooohed and ahhhhhed at all of the way too expensive items and touched everything we could. As soon as one of the three of us were on opposite ends of the store one of us would call over to the others to "come see!" For the most part we had the stores to ourselves as it was a "work day" (hee hee). After all of four stores we were hungry! We drove over to a Chinese Restaurant and each had a plate of sesame chicken; our favorite! We had to drive back to Mom's to put all of our leftovers in her fridge before heading off to S.A. My daughter kept hinting that she wanted a frappacino, "..since it's such a special day you know." I'm not real keen on getting a habit like this started (I didn't even start drinking coffee until I was close to 30). However, something deep within tells me that she is not going to let something as trivial as my rules keep her from doing what she wants (pray for me now). And so, in the end, I agreed and we ended our night at Starbucks (I have close to 10 gift cards from students) sipping caramel frappacinos (my first). We are such social losers that Mom and I had to call my sister and my sister-in-law to get coached on what and how to order. When we requested that our drinks be caffeine free we were told that they were all out of decaf. WHAT? We had to wait 10 minutes before they could "mix it up" for us. I'm telling you...stick around with this blog and you will learn that these sort of "things" happen ALL THE TIME to myself and my family.
All in all our stops in San Antonio included Justice for Girls, Ross Dress for Less, Target, and Barnes & Noble/Starbucks. We walked into Justice (my daughter's favorite place to look) and right away she wanted the entire outfit on display. For those of you without young kids, a pair of shorts, a t-shirt, and a single pair of tennis shoes does not at "outfit" make. Kids these days must wear layers of clothes thus translated as: $$$. One must have the coordinating headband, shoes, bangles, earrings, tote bag, leggings, mini skirt, tank top, t-shirt, and jacket. Please keep in mind that these kids grow hourly. My mother and I did what we thought best: we stood my daughter in front of the mannequin and rattled off the price of every single item...out loud. When the total came to $90.00 FOR 1 OUTFIT we gave her the look that includes the raised eyebrows and the tight-lipped smile with a slight downward nod of the head. She got the message and we walked over to Ross Dress for Less.
Today was truly her lucky day because EVERYTHING my daughter tried on not only fit but looked fantastic on her. Earlier in the morning I had prepared her for the fact that just because we were going "shopping" didn't necessarily mean we were going to be "buying." But when you're hot you're hot! The little stinker ended up with an entire new wardrobe, probably close to 11 outfits (that are all interchangeable), and we only went $35 dollars over the cost of the single outfit at Justice! She even walked out of Ross with 4 pairs of shoes! "Train a child in the way he should go..." Amen!
I had fun waiting for my daughter to come out of the dressing room each time she tried on a new outfit. Usually I am in the room with her, but this time Grandma and I sat in the room opposite her's and were her captive audience. We could see her ankles only but knew she was happy by the bounces, twists, and pivots.
We giggled and we held hands. We hugged and we tugged. But mostly we shared time and love. I am very grateful that I have a daughter to experience these moments with...and I do appreciate that they are just that...moments. I know to hold them close because they may not happen has often as I would like...but then again...maybe they will.
I did not get home until after midnight and when I called to let everyone know I was home safe and sound Mom told me that she and her granddaughter were probably going to stay up one more hour. They were giving each other massages and telling stories. My daughter told me, "Mom...I am SO EXCITED!"
Maybe that is why I am not even sleepy now at 1:57 a.m. I, too, am so excited that my mom is able to spend some time with my daughter and my daughter is able to spend time with her grandmother. There is nothing that makes me happier than knowing that my kids are happy. When I walked in the door of my house a little after midnight all I could see was the blue flicker of our television. My son's head was craning over the back of the chair searching for me. "I've been waiting for you to get home" were his first words to me.
My family may be dressed for less but my heart runneth over.
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