Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Mission Impossible!

Well, it is that time of year again.
Sale flyers full of back to school
specials fill or mailboxes.
The aisles at Target are packed with
High School Musical folders,
Disney Princess backpacks,
and endless bins of #2 pencils,
pink erasers and boxes of crayons.
If you are like me,
your kids outgrew everything this Summer,
so you are on the hunt for savvy ways to
restock their closets with clothes they will love
without having to take out a small loan
to pay for it!
I had three kids to shop for this year
and I approached each shopping day very differently.
Bren was up first.
This is the day I looked forward to the most.
She still values my fashion opinion and is the funnest to shop for
because the clothes are so darn cute!
For Bren, research was key.
I shopped online at places like
crazy 8, gymboree, gap, Lands End, and Naartjie.
I filled up my online shopping carts from what I liked at each online store
and then printed them out to take with me.
If I found better deals out in town, I bought them.
If my online sales were better,
I purchased those deals when I got home that night.
Bren and I hit 11 local stores and had a very prosperous day.
I found great deals on cute stuff and came home that night to purchase
just a few online items that were better buys.
She's all set.
Michael was next.
All he wanted was a bunch of t-shirts and a few pairs of jeans.
We were able to get all of that plus a great hoodie
and a pack of new socks from visiting just three stores.
He is so easy and fun to shop with.
He knows the value of a dollar and
kept a careful eye on the budget I had set for him.
He wore basketball shorts so he could try everything on right there
in the middle of the store!
We didn't mess with a single dressing room line,
He just pulled those jeans right up over his shorts!
I told him that he gets that from his great grandmother.
My grandma does the same thing.
I've helped her pull on and off countless sweaters
right in the middle of Macys!
Michael was very proud of the outfits we got for
a little under budget.
He laid them all out on the living room floor and
showed them off to Zachary, Madison and his dad.
Although I definitely believe that clothes don't make the person,
it's nice to love what you wear,
and I love seeing my kids feel so good about themselves.
My third and final shopping trip was with Madison,
my 13 year old daughter.
Madison loves clothes,
but hates the whole process of picking out what goes with what
out of a store full of options.
It helped that we made a list of must haves before we left
so we could stay focused on what we had to get.
I've definitely learned that she has to absolutely love something
or I'm just wasting my money on it
because it will sit in her closet with tags on until it goes out of style.
So, shopping for clothes or shoes with Madison is definitely a challenge,
but shopping for undergarments with her
is mission impossible!
{Can't you hear the theme music playing right now?}
I felt like we needed to be dressed in all black,
lower ourselves on a wire above the intimate aparel aisle,
grab a handful of bras and panties mid-flip during our descent to the ground
and skillfully hide the offending items in our shopping cart
under extreemly non-sexual items having nothing to do with puberty or hormones
like Tide with bleach, air freshener, light bulbs and a hand mixer.
All of this to keep people from knowing or seeing
that we are in need of new undergarments!
And to make matters worse,
I wasn't entirely sure of her size.
The tag on her current bra no longer exists,
not that she would let me check for it or anything.
Madison was clearly not in the mood to
discuss anything having to do with the words
"cup", "wire", "strap", "push-up", "spill over" or "boobie",
so she was no help at all in narrowing down the
size and style for me.
She stood there expressionless,
arms folded, eyes rolling, face flushing.
Having nursed four babies and having been an active participant
in countless births of my friend's babies,
and having been instrumental in helping so many women
and their babies start off a successful nursing relationship,
I am completely comfortable with boobs.
So coming from this mindset
and in an effort to get some idea of what I'm working with here,
I try to hold a particularly cute bra up to her like I would a shirt on Bren,
but she quickly sensed the intention of my movement
and did a lightening fast duck and run followed by a horrified,
"Moooooommmmm!!!!! Stop that!".
I can't help it.
I'm a mom, it's automatic!
Besides, no one is looking!!
Left with no other choice,
(and because I'm obviously not going to chase her around the aisle
trying to size her bra),
I stand at the far end of the aisle from where she is
and hold the bra up to her, closing one eye and tilting my head
trying to judge the fit from that distance.
Well from this vantage point the bra engulfs her entire body
so this method is clearly not working.
Looks like we'll have to guess at this and sort it all out
in the dressing room.
I grab 4 bras of various sizes and styles
while Madison turns 10 shades of red and walks 5 miles ahead of me.
I'm no longer allowed in the dressing room,
so she's on her own to determine comfort and fit.
She settles on one that "will do" and we head back to the
bra aisle to grab the acceptable bra in other colors so
we will have enough stock not to have to do this again for a while!
Whether we were on the giving or receiving end of this milestone,
all of us girls have been there.
For a teenage girl,
I'm sure bra shopping in public with your mom
is not high on the list of things you want to do.
For me now on the mom side,
I'm so thrilled that Madison has the modesty
that she does.
I'm glad that polkadot bras hanging innocently
in the aisles of Target make her blush.
I'm glad that I'm her mom and that we get to share these moments together
that I'm sure we'll look back on and laugh at.
I look forward to the day when she calls me and
tells me of her own years of stepping into my role
as the intrusive mom who tries to hold a bra up to her
own horrified little girls chest!
I'm sure she'll be much better at it than I am!
So until next time,
Mission Impossible
officially accomplished!
Whew!!

6 comments:

Mari said...

ROFL! TOO funny! Poor Madison! I'd have to say you would absolutely LOVE shopping with my oldest daughter! She is opposite of Madison when it comes to undergarment shopping and we have way too much fun in the bra/pantie isle! Too much in fact I almost embarass myself! LOL

Glad Madison endured the pain and got enough to last her!

Cristie :) said...

Well if the mission was for me to laugh until my gut hurt then it was MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Laura said...

I just enjoy reading your blogs so much. You make us experience it all like we were there and with the bra shopping how awkward would that have been to have all your trusty blog readers there LoL. I am sure Bren got some wicked cute clothes and Michael sounds very happy with his clothes to be showing them off good for him! its good to like what your wearing.

For Madison I can relate, even though my bra shopping yesterday ended okay it started off with me being mortified to walk in to the shop cause I knew id have to be getting sized and what not so I could finally get a proper fit. There is just so many its hard to find just the right one, i found out after buying it I still hadn't succeeded with the right now...so oh yeah I get the joys of going back. Hopefully the sales lady who was helpful will be there. Thanks again for your awesome blog posts and glad your coming back into the blogging world again we missed you!.

jonahbonah said...

You have such a way with words...yesterday I cried, today I am laughing so hard my cheeks hurt!!!

Melissa

Anonymous said...

Aren't those "Mom STOP!!!!" moments a daily thing? I hear it every day...

Anonymous said...

Becca,

I've been enjoying reading some of your blog today :) I no longer blog, but my husband does if you want to check it out. It's spookhollowfarms.blogspot.com

Look forward to reading more!

Misty