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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Shopping (03/01/07)
Priceless

On Wednesdays, I finish all my tasks for the day and take an early shower. I have a date that I’d not miss for the world. Just my daughter and I. It’s the only day of the week that she gets out early from school as my son, since moving on to middle school is caged in until three. With two and a half hours to spare, both of us would often act on a wild fancy…a trip to Ben’s and Jerry, a hot-dog meal at Target, followed by idling in the aisles, a much needed drop at the library or feeding the ducks at Webb Park. But our all time favorite is shopping at the mall, just 5 minutes away from the school. Blame it on the female gene or the fact that she comes from the stock of a shopaholic.

Shaina loves anything that tinkles…around her wrists, hooked on her ears or draped around the neck, perched on her waist or encasing her ankles. In one short word…accessories. For a nine year old, Icing or Claire‘s …is the Disneyland of the vain and daring. So, naturally, that makes the first stop. She swings the carousel of earrings, round and round, snipping off one after another. “How does this look?”, “Do you think this is too big? Too gaudy? Too nerdy?” So we deliberate and opinionate…the beautiful, the ugly, the plain, the to-die for, the irresistible...or please leave that alone…can’t afford it. This venture can make her flighty too. From earrings to head-bands to purses to little chairs to hold cell-phones. Shaina flits from one to another.

Accessories and shades…they’re a little girl’s best friends. Shaina can’t pass a rack of sunglasses without trying them on. The bigger, the better. The coolest ones are those that cover half the face, and had trouble staying on the nose. If they’re studded with glister on the sides or have pink lenses, they made it to her favorite list. One pair after another, she dons them like she’s on a fashion runway, preening and prancing in front of the mirror. “How do I look?” she always wants an opinion, like it matters. Lips upturned, finger on cheek…her reflection stares back, teasing,….side view, frontal, aerial. I smile…she doesn't feel the glare of shoppers or bemused look of mothers passing by. No self-consciousness invades her mind, like my gawky eleven year-old son. Still time to savor the child-like wonder and innocence that only last as long as her ticking growth clock will allow her.

Shopping isn’t complete until you’ve been to at least a dozen shops to look at clothes. The selection can be titillating if your head isn’t screwed on right. She prowls among the racks and learn to mix and match. A glistering top with a Capri plastered with floral motif and crimson ballet flats…well, that will make it to Blackwell’s worst dressed list. Lurking among the racks with a minor can be hazardous to your wallet, especially when she spots something she must have or the world will be sorry. She’s drooling over it and you find yourself drooling as well until you realize your pocket already has a hole from the last purchase.

Often times, we leave the mall with no loot…not by choice but by sheer will. Today, she brought a chandelier of an earrings and she carried it out like a treasure. To the pragmatic, or the casual observer, we could be categorized under the lame, wasting precious time, shopping for the frivolous. Or some might argue about the quality of such a venture. We may seem like social butterflies inside the shops but the conversation that went back and forth and the beauty tips (the wholesome dollop) can only occur when you are all she has to concur. So she learns that beauty doesn’t have to be loud, unruly gaudines can be repulsive and you can look good without over exposure of body parts.

If you think I’m done with my didactic banter (the prude that I‘m) …hold on. Like I’m holding on to the bonding that can only consolidate when two are on a date. So we tango in a mall, fox-trotting from one store to another, whispering fashion tips and laughing over trivia, getting cheap thrills out of all the clothes we try and paraded in. The most valuable thing we bought? Bonding: Free and Priceless.
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Member Comments
Member
Date
Jan Ackerson
03/10/07
Love it! I felt as if I were along for the trip. A tiny thing: Just my daughter and me.

I really liked your unique style and your word choices.
Janice Fitzpatrick
03/12/07
WOW! I really like this. I think as a mom of a just turned 6 yr old daughter whose mannerisms are often of a 12 yr old,since she has two older brothers who are 16 and 20,we find ourselves having actually very deep conversations but one of our favorite passtimes that connects our hearts is "SHOPPING"Yeah!:0) It all goes by so fast as I am learning with my boys. Sigh,tear rolling down my cheek.:0( With each child we have had our special moments together and even now I sometimes find just a few brief times and windows of opportunity that I can actually peer in and even be a part of. I only wish childhood lasted longer.:0) God bless your writing and keep up the great work!:0)