Shopping With My Boys

October 4, 2010

Shopping has always been a social thing for me.

All through my teenage years, through university and even now, my sister has been one of my best shopping companions. We've got outlet mall shopping down to an art. Never spending more time than we need to in any one store and always coming out armed with great finds at bargain prices.

In university, I also managed to find a couple really good shopping buddies. For example, my friend Kat and I volunteered at KidsAbility out in Cambridge for a term. That may or may not have been a good decision for us because on the way to our placement, there was a couple outlets and somehow we managed to hit up those outlets every single week and come back with a thing or two.

And now that I'm living with two boys, I was sure my days of shopping with a buddy were over. But over the past 4 years, I have been proven wrong. As I started to encourage Andrew to dress more "appropriately", he became a little more interested in finding his own clothes. Sure, he hates when I shop at other stores and even has a "list"* but for the most part, he's a very willing buddy. And other times, he and Nathan entertain each other while they wait for me.


Then there's Nathan. He has a great time pulling things he likes off the racks. Last year, he even picked out all his own back to school clothing and walked out of the store with them (except that we had to pull him back in because he had neglected to pay for those items before marching out the door to sit on the bench).

I think I've really lucked out when it comes to shopping companions. Which is a really good thing because I'm a wreck when I shop by myself. Like the other day, I suggested to Andrew I stop by Walmart on the way home. I wandered around for an hour and bought a whole lot of things we didn't really need, got a few things on the list I didn't have on hand and I completely forgot all the rest.

I told Andrew that maybe I shouldn't go shopping on my own anymore. He agreed. Thank goodness. It's always nice to have someone else around to help carry all the bags!


Put up your hand if you love shopping with mommy!


Or check out your muscles in the mirror. Whatever works.



*Andrew has a list of stores he absolutely hates and will try to stop me from going in whenever I ask if I can go take a peek. It all started when we were wedding planning and I'd take any chance I could to wander around places like Michaels and Williams-Sonoma. I suppose it's not a coincidence that those two stores are at the top of his list.