An Outing - Just Me and My Gal

As a kid, I used to love going to the mall with my mom and my sister. We would say we were having a "girls shopping day." Shopping, eating, talking, laughing...I used to love those days. And after I got married, my mom, sister and I still had those days - though with busy lives and schedules, they were fewer and far between. Four years after I got married, Doug and I started trying to have a baby. Weeks...months...years went by. Struggle. Heartache. Yearning. The mall is a very hard place to be when you are experiencing infertility. Lots of families. Lots of kids. I would sometimes sit on a bench and watch stroller after stroller after stroller go by. I would wonder, "Why can't it be me?" Then I started avoiding the mall like the plague. I couldn't handle it. It reminded me of everything that I wanted so desperately and couldn't seem to have.

I've gone to the mall a number of times with Briana now, a few times with my mom and a couple times with Doug. All of those times have been great. I went to the mall once on my own with Briana to let her just play at the indoor playground. But it wasn't until yesterday, that Briana and I had a real shopping day - just the two of us.

I actually had not intended to spend the morning at the mall. Bri had received some blue jeans for her birthday, and a security tag had not been removed. I went directly to the store to get the tag removed and Briana decided she wanted to look for some clothes. We ended up with three cute shirts for under $20. Then Bri played at the indoor playground for a short time. She got hungry and we went to the food court. Did my kid want chicken nuggets or pizza? Heck no, Lo Mein noodles all the way. That's my girl.

I watched Briana closely wolf down her noodles. She sat at the table like a big girl. We enjoyed our food and chit chatted. She told me she didn't like the cabbage in her noodles. We talked a little about school and other things. At that moment, I really felt like I was having a "girl day" with my daughter. Just like I had with my mom as a kid. Briana is getting old enough now to enjoy shopping, eating and talking. All those years I yearned for a child. Wishing I had what others had. Now I have it too. And it's even better than I imagined because Briana is my daughter. And Briana is awesome.


After lunch, we hit the D!sney Story and B@th and B@dy Works. I asked if she wanted to get going or do more shopping. She says more shopping! I've created a monster. So we hit an earring store and a H@llmark store and topped the day off with a sprinkle cookie. Then we decided to call it quits for the day. (With all the kids back at school, the mall was practically empty. That's how I like it.)

It was nice to have a relaxing day after the stress of starting school last week. Of course I know last week was much harder for me than for Briana. Speaking of school, Briana had another good day today. I am so relieved. Here she is on her way to school today...

I'm one lucky mama.