To shop or not to shop

Okay, I have to admit it - I think there is something wrong with me. I may have to hand over my key to the secret women's clubhouse and rip up my superior gender membership card. Here's why - I HATE SHOPPING! Seriously, I hate it. I don't like it a smidge. Today, I was at the mall with my 9-year-old daughter looking for boots. Not snow boots - she has those. But, cool boots - you know the kind with zippers or buckles in leather or suede or something kind of tweenish but not too little girlish. Here's the problem with that - it's very hard to find shoes for this child. Her feet are on the large size - they are long and thin and flat. She fits comfortably into women's sizes but most of the boots she liked in women's sizes have heels that are not going to be on my child's feet! So, six stores later, she was done. I was done after store number two, but I'm no quitter so I would have gone into every store in the Poughkeepsie Galleria if I had to. I even bought her a fancy chocolate bar hoping that would give her enough energy to run the marathon. Heck, I even saw guys in Payless that were more excited about shoe shopping than I was. No one in my family likes crowds - did I mention that the Christmas decorations are up and it seemed like a lot of people were doing Christmas shopping already? Nobody wants to wait on lines - and there were a lot of them. And we're not big fans of noise - a cheerleading squad was there doing fundraising so we got to listen to them cheering while we were trying on boots. People who know me well know I hate to shop. I would rather go into a store, grab 10 things and try them on at home. Really. I would rather return stuff than stay in the store an extra 20 minutes trying things on. So I was thinking about how much I hate shopping and then I looked at my daughter. Does she hate shopping because I hate shopping or because it's boring? She doesn't mind shopping in a store like Claire's. Oh, don't get me started on that store. That place is torture. I don't know how people do it. It's so cramped and crowded and when you turn around your purse hits the display and knocks over the rhinestone belly ring display and the lip gloss rack and then your kids beg and beg for the $15 gummy bear earrings that you know they are just going to lose the minute they get home. I have this fantastic idea for the next time I'm at the mall and my kids want to go to Claire's. I will find a teenager and give her five bucks to stand there with my kids in the store. I will wait outside and watch but the lucky girl can help them sift through day-glo rubber and feathers and glitter. Then, they can buy their items and we'll all be happy. Ten minutes of her life for $5? Not a bad trade-off! I'm sure my disgust is rubbing off on her. She must feel my anxiety, my angst, my loathing. Poor girl I told her she needs to go shopping with her dad's sisters or cousins because those girls are serious about shopping. They know where to go, when to go, what to buy and how to buy it. Me? I'll wear the same pair of shoes every day. And, I'll wear brown shoes with a black coat. I just don't care. Poor Caty. We came home without boots but she didn't seem to mind too much. She wanted to go back for another chocolate bar!