A Different Fashion

This weekend I went out, alone. It's always such a treat.  I was meeting some girlfriends for dinner and a movie, but beforehand had some shopping to do.  My first stop was Target.  I bypassed the clothing department and the accessories department.  I went straight to the Rubbermaid containers and spent a ridiculous amount of money on those things, all in the name of organizing the basement.  It's worth it, but I thought of all the much more fun things I could buy with that money. Things like clothes. And accessories.

Next I went to the craft store.  Now that was too much fun!  As I wandered the aisles, enjoying the rare treat of actually being able to peruse at my leisure, I kind of chuckled to myself.  Life sure changes when you have children, I mused in my head.  I was in seventh-heaven looking at art and craft supplies for my kiddos.  I barely even looked in my favorite department, the scrapbooking supplies.  I was all about the kids and their creativity.  I picked up some art canvases, Sculpey clay, and beeswax for their crafting pleasure.  I got giddy inside as I thought of how giddy they would be when they saw all these goodies!

I lingered in the kids department, noticing lots of fun Klutz books and Melissa and Doug toys.  I almost bought them each another KinzKlip.  They are so hard to resist at only $1 each.  But I forced myself.

At Kohls, I spent most of my time in the girls department, digging through the clearance, but also in search of leggings for Brown-Eyed-Girl. Leggings are amazing!  Not on me, but for little girls, especially those who love to wear dresses even in the dead of winter.  And those who can't stand the seam in the toes of traditional tights.  I found a black sparkly pair and a hot pink pair with a discreet tiger stripe pattern on them. Perfect.

After dinner, a few of us girls made our way to the mall.  Our first stop was Claire's, that mecca of accessories for the preteen set.  Oh, it's fabulous, and all I could think was how much Brown-Eyed-Girl would love it.  I began planning our next Girl's Day in my head, with the intention of a trip to the mall.

We went to the theatre and saw The Guilt Trip, with Barbara Streisand. Not a romance, but a movie about a mom who dearly loves her one and only son.  A mom who put her son first in everything, but discovered it was time to start living her life again.

I think we're so prone to think we lose part of ourselves when we become a mom.  For sure, there are things that have to go, maybe just for a season.  But my life is so much richer and more interesting because I am a mother.  You'd never in a million year find me in the art supplies department pre-kids.  There are so many beautiful books I never would have read.  I wouldn't know what a Webkinz was or Ninjago.  I'd spend all my time and money in the clothing and accessories department.  I wouldn't experience the sweetness of a Girl's Day and squeals and giggles over Hello Kitty merchandise.

We say that we are "raising" kids.  It's true. I am raising them, molding them, laboring over them. And in the process, they are fashioning me, too.