The Last Mall Trip (aka Why I Hate Shopping)

It started with a trip to the mall, our last trip before sleep away camp and a 5-week trip to Israel. Our shopping list was fairly small and everyone was in agreement that we would get what we need and consider stores we might not typically shop in if the end result was an item we wanted.

I should have known.

Teen Two cried her way through the entire mall. Now, granted, our mall can be shopped end-to-end in less than two hours, even if you’re a female who likes to shop, but tears make the trip endless. Didn’t matter what she was crying about, nothing we looked at or bought or promised or even fed could stop them from dribbling silently down her cheeks. 

I suppose I should be grateful that we did not run across anyone who has ever watched Mr. Rogers, as not a single person blinked an eye at my daughter’s puffy red eyes and wet cheeks. No one asked what was wrong or if they could help. It could be that most of them were mothers of teens and knew better.

Teen One refused to consider any stores other than her typical ones. And then wanted to know why I was annoyed.

And the retail stores have decided that bathing suit shopping season is over. Doesn’t matter that it’s only just now the middle of June. Doesn’t matter that we are still in need of several bathing suits. Bathing suits are not being sold. And the ones that are, are the ones that other people have returned. You know how they now sell bikinis as separates? Well, that only works if there are tops and bottoms that can remotely go together. It was like shopping in a toy store the first week of January—nothing but leftovers.

I tried feeding them, thinking that would improve things. It didn’t. It only broke the momentum of “come on, we need to finish off this list now” that I had going previous to the food break.

Ultimately, we were semi-successful. I’m not shopping for any more clothes for this summer. What they don’t have will have to be borrowed from someone. Or they’ll have to walk around naked—which really isn’t much different from their wearing clothes at this point if you’ve seen any of the recent styles.

And the tears have finally stopped.