AT THE MALL

Our trip to the Mall was very successful and efficient. As when the kids were pre-schoolers, we left the house with me reciting our itenerary. My goal was to work this trip out so that neither kid had to spend much time waiting on the other. That would lead to grumpy teenagers. We do not want grumpy teenagers.

First let me say that for one brief moment, my brain had a cramp when Blake grabbed the keys and headed out the door in a flash before I could even get my coat. I was thinking "What's he do...oh, he's driving." It's one of those things that still surprises me. But he is very confident and cautious - a good mix.

So at Kohl's we head to the men's sportswear and Blake points to some shorts and asks what size he will need. I tell him medium. So he picks up a pair of XL and says they'll probably fit. I have to remind him that we are in the MENS department, which causes my heart to do a weird flippy thing. So he grabs a pair of Medium and heads to the fitting room. He comes back and says "these fit, how many can I get?" After checking the price I say "5 pair." So he says "grab me 5 pair in navy and black, and then we'll pick out shirts at Finish Line." Then he picked out a pair of sweatpants. The whole thing took about 13 minutes. He went to Gamestop while Kayla and I finished our shopping. Gamestop is on the way to Finish Line so we saw him through the window, he put down the controller to the demo game and joined us again. Kayla and I didn't even have to break our stride. That is when I said "Dad would be so proud of how efficient our trip is." Finish Line had college t-shirts 2 for $20 so Blake picked out 4 and and then convinced me to let him get two more. He could not find tennis shoes. What is it about size 13? Does NOBODY carry size 13 for men? Kayla however found her blue plaid tennies at Shoe Sensation and they look just plain cute. Now the kids have a good start on spring clothes.

As Blake was driving us home I could not help but remember all our trips to the mall when the kids were little. I took them once a week, especially in the winter, to run around and eat at Corn Dog 7. Why did they close Corn Dog 7. We LOVED that place. We did not have a play place when they were little so they spent their time running up and down the steps in the center court where the fountains were. They always liked for me to count when they ran. They would say "Count for me, Mommy" meaning time them. So they'd run back to me and I'd yell "NINETEEN!" And they'd want to try again so they could get a higher number. In their little minds, the bigger number had to mean they were faster....

As they got older and in school, we went to the mall less frequently; but we almost always went when Daddy was away on a business trip. Sometimes we'd go for an early supper and have giant soft pretzels and fruit smoothies for supper. Anything out of the ordinary was a treat when Daddy was gone. And I would usually let them pick out a little toy to take home.
When Blake was already in school, Kayla and I had our "mall days" on Thursday. We went after her dance class. In the winter she'd walk around the mall with the skirt of her little leotard poking out of her sweat pants. In warm weather she'd walk around in the leotard and tennis shoes. And was she ever cute, with that leotard and the ever present giant bow on her head. My stars, she was cute. Dance was at 10:00, so we'd get to the mall a little after 11. As we'd leave the house on those mornings, I would say "after dance, we will go to the mall and take a walk and look around, and sit at the book store and read books." And I'd always warn her if there was any actual shopping to do, so she'd be prepared for the extra wait. And of course, I ended up buying a book or two for her and Blake. And then we'd go to Baskin Robbins. Every Thursday, we went to Baskin Robbins. BEFORE LUNCH. It was our "girls day" And by golly we were going to have ice cream before lunch. Since it was so early in the day, it was usually only the owner working and he'd see us coming and say "There's my ladies. How was dance today?" And at least twice he gave us our ice cream for free. Kayla always chose vanilla, and usually in a cup. Now she is more adventurous with her tastes, but she certainly enjoys vanilla on any given day. Vanilla ice cream to her, is like any sort of chocolate is to me.

One time when my mom was with us at the mall, we were sitting at the center fountain while Kayla ran up and down the stairs. The fountain is huge and is recessed into the floor, so it is actually very accessible (too accessible). I looked down once and Kayla was lying on her tummy lapping water out of the fountain like a puppy. So I trotted down the stairs and got her up and as I took her back up to Grandma I said "Let's go find your mommy. She wouldn't like you doing that, but she needs to keep a better eye on you."

I will just add the memory of the "Cat Fight at Kohl's" and then I will stop. At least until tomorrow, when I might add more memories for my kids to read.
Kayla was about 2 and Blake was not quite 5. We were walking down one of the main aisles at Kohl's and I heard some lady speaking to me. I turned and said "Pardon me." And she said "I said your kids are so cute and well behaved. " And I said "Well, thank you so much. They're usually pretty good." And in my minds I was telling myself "You big FAKER." Because we had just come out of the shoe aisle where the kids had been scratching each other's eyes out. Obviously it was an intense experience because I still remember it clearly. We were strolling along, all of us enjoying our day when out of nowhere both kids were yelling and crying and arms and legs were flailing everywhere. I do not know what set it off, but I will say one thing. Kayla could really put up a good fight for someone so little who was strapped into a stroller. Heaven help the evil person who ever tried to snatch her from me. I do not remember how I smoothed things over. But I remember being exhausted and completely bewildered that it happened so quickly. I am fairly certain Kayla started it. She probably pulled on Blake's shirt one too many times or threw something at him. But the storm passed and we continued on our way. Only to be complimented for our excellent behavior.
Go Figure.