Saturday, April 19, 2008

Shopping with Imelda

Yes, indeed, it's a girl.

We went shopping today. In the city. It was a Big Family Outing.

For years I've been shopping for boys. Boy clothes, boy shoes, boy outerwear, boy toys. If not for Boychild, then for Boychild's friends. We're a bit lean on girls amid our immediate circle.

Then along came Girlchild, who opened up a whole dormant part of me that immediately overdosed on pink until the colour assaulted my eyes and made me feel a bit queasy. Still, there are lots of adorable girl things out there!

Today we needed to find a spring jacket for her majesty, as well as a pair of casual shoes that were not so blatantly her brother's hand-me-downs.

Well. We perused the racks of several stores and didn't have luck with the jackets at first - they were either too heavy or too big or too small or too butt ugly. We also looked at sunhats, and I asked for Girlchild's opinion on those, which she voiced quite readily in the negative. "No, I don't like it!"

Then it came time to try on shoes. This. Would. Not. Do. She had absolutely no desire to take off her shiny black Mary Janes to try on anything else. I don't know if she thought we were going to take away her pretty shoes forever or what, but both times we tried to do it she threw herself hysterically onto the floor (in two stores) and wailed dramatically, punching clenched fists in the grimy carpet with frustration and fury. Yeesh. Okay, you don't like the shoes, Imelda? So we eyeballed a pair, slapped them sole to sole with the shoes she was wearing and we'll just hope they'll be more appealing after a good night's sleep.

At our final destination we lucked upon a jacket (appropriately pinkish) and Girlchild spied a purple straw hat that was, apparently, Just Divine. None of those other hats with princesses and Tinkerbell and sparkles and flowers was quite right. This plain purple hat with just a hint of gold in the weave was worn proudly around the store and handed over to the cashier with a big smile.
On the way home in the van she brushed her new Fairy Princess Dora the Explorer's long brown hair, then gleefully attacked Boychild's new dinosaur with the hairbrush. There may be a tomboy in her yet.

3 comments:

Christine said...

What an adorable post! Fabulous, witty writing.

Andrea Frazer said...

"Then along came Girlchild, who opened up a whole dormant part of me that immediately overdosed on pink until the colour assaulted my eyes and made me feel a bit queasy."

You really are a great writer. No wonder you have a local following. Which.. you need... to promote more. HELLOWOOOOOO

Andrea Frazer said...

Did my fxxxin comment go through? It said basically that you are a fabulous writer. Loved this: Then along came Girlchild, who opened up a whole dormant part of me that immediately overdosed on pink until the colour assaulted my eyes and made me feel a bit queasy.