I hate to shop. Wait…that’s a little strongly worded: I do not like to shop. I do not like to shop very much…at all. There are some upsides to this natural bent, but there are also some downsides. One of the downsides is that our wardrobe tends to habitually lean toward a derelict and decrepit condition.

It doesn’t bother me over much. It does create a level of inconvenience for my husband. But my middle-schoolers? It effects them a lot! When They approach me and say, “Mom, I don’t have anything to wear!” – they really mean it! It’s not just a whining complaint; it’s a statement of fact.

So, it being December and all, my daughter informed me that she doesn’t have any long pants to wear (which is true). We headed out on a shopping errand about a week ago on a Monday night…to get long pants.

We left the house between 7:00 and 7:30 pm; this is usually the time I am winding down my day and hoping to get to bed early. But necessity was laid upon me, and with grim determination I left to go shopping with my daughter.

It is not fun going shopping with someone who has “an attitude”, and this night was no different. Except that I was the one who was struggling and was likely to slip into a fuss and a huff and a flounce and a stomp; I am pleased to report that this did not happen, but I behaved my self wisely and with self-restraint.

One blind spot I have regarding shopping is in the area of unrealistic expectations. I generally go out hoping that we will quickly find what we came for, and be done and return home. Accordingly, as we drove to the store on Monday, I was planning a strategic shopping campaign: my idea was to interweave two missions into one – brilliant! We would shop for some of my needs and accomplish the shopping my daughter needed. I entertained this idea as a viable plan all the way into the store and halfway down the first aisle. After that, reality hit, and I abandoned my ambitious shopping plan, and we began doing what we came for – looking for long pants for my daughter.

After I had settled into the task, it was a pleasure to shop with my 8th grade daughter. She was respectful as we sifted through the possible wardrobe selections, weighing Mom’s suggestions and her own observations and requests. She was thoughtful in her choices and she showed an emerging sense of style: what looks good together. We ended up purchasing three pairs of long pants, two belts and two coordinating tops. Happy daughter – happy mother – mission accomplished.