THE MALL AND SIMPLE PLEASURES

I am not much of a shopper. Unfortunately, I have a daughter that LOVES to shop!!! She thinks that a trip to Target without buying a new pair of shoes is insane (and usually earns me a look of disgust as she stomps her foot and folds her arms--with all the drama a four year old girl can muster!)

I do enjoy shopping at Target and have been known to spend more than I should there, but I am not too fond of the mall. I cannot remember the last time that I took Olivia to the mall and I know Cosette has never been. Well the other day we found ourselves in the vicinity of the mall with nothing else to do. I told Olivia I was leary of going to the mall because I was afraid she would run off or not obey me. With much pleading from her and promises to be good --- we headed to the mall. I decided if she started to cause trouble, we would leave IMMEDIATELY!!

As we pulled into the parking lot, Olivia asked if we were at the temple. She was overwhelmed with its size. We entered the mall through Sears ---right where the riding lawn mowers were. She sat on each one of them and I truly believe we could have left at that point and she would have thought the mall was the best place!!

After leaving the mowers we headed to the door leading out into the mall. As we neared the door, Olivia stopped and with a look of awe asked if that was heaven!!! (I told her to some people it is!)

The first thing she saw were the escalators---she was estatic! While Cosette and I stood at the bottom, Olivia rode the escalators up and down---over and over again. All the while waving to people and grinning and laughing. Her excitement was contagious and brought back memories of times I have been asked by security to leave the mall because my friends and I were having races on the escalators (We would race trying to run up the down and down the up--try it sometime--it is fun!).

We then went to several stores: Hallmark--where she and 3 other girls opened up each singing card, The Disney Store--where we had to look at all things princess and fairies, Libby Lu---where she was sprinkled with glitter and The Children's Place---where she tried on several dresses for Easter. We rode the carousel, the glass elevator, ate lunch at Fresh Choice, visited the Easter Bunny and rode every set of escalators several times. All the while Olivia is skipping from store to store with a huge smile on her face. It is at this point that I think to myself that I have deprived my child of some of the simple pleasures!

As we were getting ready to leave, we passed by a kiosk that had shiny, pretty hair clips. Olivia stopped to look and the lady told her she would love to fix her hair. I gave the lady a look that said "You have got to be kidding me!" But Olivia was enjoying her special day and decided that she needed to be pampered some more. So she sat in the chair while the lady attempted to comb through her hair. Olivia was absolutely wonderful the first 1/2 hour. By the second 1/2 hour she was tired and her head hurt. She cried most of that 1/2 hour. But at the end of the session she loved her hair and could hardly wait to get home to show her dad!

Olivia loved the mall and has decided that we should visit it more often---AUGH!! What have I done to myself!?! Truthfully, it was a pleasant trip and I think I could find myself back there again soon---even if it is to just sit back and watch Olivia enjoy herself and soak it all up!!!