New Appreciation for Shoppers

I just celebrated my birthday. It was a fun day filled with family and laughter. I did something I haven’t done … well ever. I took my 3 daughters-in-love (referred to as my daughters) shopping. These 3 women are very different with the common thread being they married one of my sons – they probably would never have met, been friends, or missed each other, if they had not married one of my sons. It is very strange how God brings us together to make a family.

We were celebrating my birthday, one of my daughters’ birthday, and a son’s birthday – we are a large family and we like big celebrations so we save up birthdays and celebrate them altogether, except when it is a very special birthday … oops there I go again, right, back to the girls and shopping….

I took – well one of my daughters drove the four of us – to the Sugar Land Town Center. It is a great place for walking, talking, and of course shopping. The four of us (or is it four and half, after all one of my daughters is pregnant… sorry) went straight for the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream shop. We took our sweet cold treats and sat at a table on the sidewalk to enjoy them while we discussed what we wanted to do. That took about 30 minutes to do – not so much the eating but the talking and laughing to figure out what we would do next. One of the items we discussed was going to a movie, but I do not get many opportunitys to spend time with them and a movie seemed like a waste of 2 hours we could spend talking and laughing.

The daughter that is pregnant had mentioned she would like to go the Motherhood shop, which conveniently enough, is in the middle of the block around the corner. As we walked we passed Ann Taylor’s Loft, which is the favorite shop of the other 2 daughters.

When we arrived at the Motherhood shop, I felt it coming – the urge to buy (not for the sake of buying but the urge to take care of, provide for, and spoil my daughter – after all it was my party, so what if it was a shared party, I felt like it was my party). So the non-pregnant daughters and I convinced the pregnant daughter to try on all these clothes that she would never have tried on. Of course, we allowed her to try on some clothes of her own choosing. (My daughters are really good at convincing you want to do something.) About 45 minutes later pregnant daughter and I walked out. She was grinning a grin that says I feel pretty, which is how she should always feel. The clothes she chose were not the ones she picked, but rather the ones the other daughters had selected. They are beautiful clothes and they made her look lovely and sexy even when pregnant – what more can you ask for?

While checking out at the Motherhood shop, the other 2 daughters had gone to Ann Taylor’s Loft – next door to the Motherhood shop – I wonder if there is a connection there? Wear nice clothes; end up at the Motherhood shop? – Again, my apologies, back to the Ann Taylor Loft experience.

When pregnant daughter and I arrived the other 2 were in the midst of a storm collecting clothes to try on. It was a thing of wonder to watch. These 2 women are so different but both so at home in this store and they were shopping using the same methods. Pregnant daughter went to the dressing room and claimed a room for one of the other daughters – she was really smart and claimed a larger room with a place to sit, which is where she stayed while the storm outside raged. Now if this sounds like I am being critical, I am not – I was in awe. I do not like to shop and it is a chore for me. Maybe if I mastered it as these 2 have, it would not be a chore but a mountain to be conquered, a quest to be completed, or a treasure to be found.

I was truly impressed. But not nearly as impressed as I was when they started trying on the clothes they selected. They all fit – I guess there was a day when I could have said I wear size Y and I really could wear size Y. For me, all I remember is clothes that sort of fit and you would have to keep trying sizes, forget about different outfits, I am talking about different sizes, until you discover what size you are for this line of clothing. Then you start on outfits, only to find they are from different manufacturers, so you have to start all over with the size thing. Really a bummer, I am sure this has a lot to do with why I do not liking shopping. Of course, this is a store that carries only one manufacturer’s line of clothing, so that helps with the whole size issue…. but back to the daughters.

They tried on a number of outfits (I was so flabbergasted that everything fit, I lost track of the number of outfits) and they were beautiful. There was one time when they traded a couple of pieces so the other person could try it on without having to go back to the showroom floor. Then they carefully started culling through the clothes. They separated the clothes into piles, the OK, the good, and the “must haves.” And then it was time to start the second culling, because now was the time to look at the price tags. Again, they shop the same way – and they did not grow up together, not from the same economic background, not even from the same area of the country – and they shop the same way – astounding to me.

I insisted on buying the clothes for them but I also insisted they put down the coupons that had been the prompt to come into the store. They grinned with happiness and with concern that I was spending too much, but who could resist – they are wonderful daughters and this was worth the cost to watch “pros” shop.

Elaine H.