Saturday, October 17, 2009

"Solo" Shopping

For another first this morning, I took the girls shopping at a grown-up clothing store. I needed a new set of "mom clothes" for after work and on lazy weekends ... we're talking a yoga pants style outfit, or what I call 'kid clothes' ... so I allowed the girls to shop with me, sans stroller, and with strict directions to 'stay with mom' (which weren't followed well at all). All four of us crowded into the (handicap) dressing room while I tried on a pair of pants. The twins did not like the fitting room - they were terrified once the door closed, and Lily went into full crying meltdown. I finally calmed both of them and made a mad dash for the cash register, but not before Molly broke a necklace (ooops, sorry store). Ah well. It wasn't a perfect shopping trip, but it did provide some confidence that I can do a little more of this, which is a very freeing notion, given Kyle's usual weekend working schedule.

I do take the girls to kids' clothing stores (we even kid clothes shopped this morning before lunch), and also grocery stores and Target without a stroller or grocery cart now, but it's certainly a challenge. I'm doing my best to "train" them to stay together so that we'll be allowed more of this freedom going forward. All in all, they do pretty well, and I even had several people compliment me on the girls' behavior at the stores this morning. Even while Molly was yanking on that shiny little necklace.

Lily is the biggest challenge during non-stroller walks or outings. I can't tell if she's just super distracted or being 2-year-old style passive aggressive, but she makes sure to fall 20 feet behind us by walking far too slowly compared to the rest of us. Given she's the fastest twin, I know it's not a factor of walking abilities. There's more to this story, and now that Lily and I are battling over this frustrating 'game', I can only guess she'll continue to make our outings challenging. I'm disappointed by this, as the idea of being able to solo shop with all three kids (that is, without other adult assistance), without having to coach them incessantly on "staying together", is very exciting and life altering. I guess I'm still a good ways away from that level of freedom ...

I'll post a photo here of the super cute outfits the girls are wearing today. Auntie gave the twins these dresses and tights for their birthday ...


... aren't they adorable? In the photo, Molly is having a "discussion" with Lily about the broken pumpkin stem that Lily is holding. Molly is convinced that daddy can fix the broken stem - in fact, all my kids are convinced that daddy can fix anything. Too bad that isn't true!

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