Mall Rat

Oh, I am in soooo much trouble (future trouble, metaphorical trouble).  I've been given this decree so many times since our second daughter was born, I usually just smile and shrug my shoulders as if to say, "I know, what can you do?"  But then... I took them to THE MALL!

Yesterday was the first time I had been to a proper mall in at least a year, maybe longer.  Abercrombie blaring music in the dark, check!  Calorie-laden scent of cinnamon and almonds in the air, check!  Over-priced, over-hyped, overly-bright merchandise at every turn, check!  I was enjoying my little stroll through this climate controlled testament to the average American's need to over-indulge, ambling past all my old favorites without a backward glance, my two money-suckers in tow, when I looked down and saw the look of rapture on my eldest face.  Uh oh.

The food court... of course we need a snack - a grilled cheese sandwich from the fancy panini place (we settled for chips, thank goodness)... and naturally we had to play in the play area... and get a hair cut at the kid-snips (dissuaded again, thank goodness)... and test out some gelato at the cafe near the play place.  We had begun our mall trip with a stop at the Land's End shop in Sears for a winter coat, and ended it with a stop at Barnes and Noble for a few books, but when she realized that we were on our way back to the car she seemed perplexed, "Why?  I want to go to THAT store!" pointing to a blindingly fluorescent store filled to the brim with girls clothing.  "That store is for big girls, honey" (and future tramps, I think to myself).  "But I'm a big girl," she sulks.  "You're right, but that store is for even bigger girls, maybe we can look next year."  This was an acceptable response.  After explaining a few more times why we could not stop and look at every bright and shiny thing in our path we finally made it back to the car.

If I consider her interest in the mall to double each year until she is a pre-teen, then multiply that by two (because her little sister is hot on her heels) I figure I'll be spending roughly three million dollars in that mall in about eight years.  So this is why, yes, I am in soooo much trouble.