Shopping with Daddy

Scott hates clothes shopping. But after a while, it becomes a necessity. So once a year, usually following Christmas or his birthday when he has a handful of gift cards or cash to spend, we go on a shopping spree. When I say "we", I mean all of us. Scott needs me for opinions on how things look, and, well, I can't leave my crumb-crunchers at home unattended. So out we trot to the mall or a major department store for hours of consumer fun and stimulation of the economy.

Scott needed some good professional shoes and pants this year. So our first stop was Designer Shoes Warehouse. I thought I might be needed for some serious fashion advice, but Scott had specifications for his shoes that I couldn't help him with. So I ended up herding the kids to the other side of the store.

I figured if I'm going to be in a large, department store sized shoe place, I might as well have a little fun and try on shoes. "Come on, boys, " I said, and headed down an aisle. At DSW, in case you aren't familiar with it, the shoes are arranged in long, waist to mid-chest high shelves that divide the aisles. An "example" shoe is parked on top so you can see it easily and then you just look underneath to find your size. I just started ambling down the aisle, slipping on whatever shoe caught my fancy. To my surprise, the guys thought this was a great activity. "Here Mom!" said one, running with a shoe to slip on my foot. "I like the button on this one," said another. "Here Mommy!" chirps the little one, running with a shoe from who-knows-where (which we then had to hope we put back in the right place!) I felt like Cinderella, except with three princes. This happened all the way up and down the aisles.

"You will all make EXCELLENT boyfriends," I told them. We then decided to try on hats. That was funny, but didn't last as long. The purses didn't quite have the same appeal as the shoes, though the boys did offer opinions on those too.

By this time Daddy was done, we had spent a very enjoyable 2o minutes in women's shoes area. Though Daddy ended up dropping his wad at Dillard's by the end of the night, I can say the guys and I actually had fun on this shopping trip--a win-win situation.

Painting Zac's Room

Zac has wanted to paint his room for at least a year. I would go and get color samples and bring them home for him to look over. We had a few things to keep in mind...Zac's striped bedspread, his very unusual blue dresser and of course, the grasscloth wall. We went through the green phase, then moved to red, then to the neutral tans. Zac ultimately decided against these choices.

I told him that we would paint together during Spring Break. So the first day the kids were out, we went to Home Depot and Zac picked four colors: a dark cobalt blue, a deep red, a color called "Red Hot" and one called "Volcanic Burst". I'll pause for a minute to let everyone imagine what the last two colors looked like..............(insert instrumental Barry Manilow song )........................................

Okay, most of you know how I feel about decorating in my house. I am generally not a controlling or anal person, but when it comes to my house, I am very, very particular about what I like and what I don't. It was really hard for me not to rip those blazing orange paint chips out of his hand, lean down and say in a low voice through clenched teeth, "Over my dead body, buster." But I controlled myself. I said nary a word (I think. Or at least I said very little.)

We went home, and I asked him to hold up the chips against the grasscloth and see how each one looked with everything else in his room. He did. Being the intellegent and tasteful person he is, he quickly saw that "Red Hot" and "Volcanic Burst" might not be the best complements to his current decor. I praised him for his precocious design sense, no doubt inherited from me.

He decided on the deep blue finally, but I asked him to lighten the shade just a bit so that it wouldn't look like a cave in his room. He finally settled on the color "Seven Seas", which is a rich, almost federal, blue.

We got everything taped and covered, and got to painting last Thursday. Zac and I enjoyed painting graffiti on the wall, yakking and transforming his room into a great boy's pad. This is how I connect with him now that he will barely hug me. He got a bit bored with it after a while, but I asked him to finish the large sections of the room, and he did. I trimmed and we both finished out the second coat.

It looks great. We rearranged the room and now he feels like he has a whole new bedroom! All in all, it made for a great way to spend a day with my kiddo over Spring Break.

The Impounding Lot

I have not been blogging much lately because our old computer finally died. We've realized how much it hurts to be suddenly disconnected from our electronic friend! Fortunately, we can plug in Scott's computer at night and conduct our business. We are getting all Dave Ramsey and waiting until April when we anticipate that we can pay for the computer with cash. Anyway, that little blurb had nothing to do with the Impounding Lot, but it does explain the scarce posts lately.

We have children who seem to shed coats, shoes and backpacks like a snakes molting. I got tired of it and announced that from here on, all stuff that was not picked up would be "impounded" in a box, and the owner of said items would have to pay to release their possessions. Today, Zac sidled up to me.

"Mom," he said, "Seth left his stuff on the floor over there."

Sure enough, he had. I know Zac tattled, but I had to follow through with Seth.

"Seth, I'm impounding your stuff. But I'll give you a break the first time...$0.25 to get your coat and backpack out."

He made a bad attitude comment and then got slapped with the full fee: $0.50. He paid it promptly in the cup and got his stuff back.

Turning to Zac (who is historically my worst offender), I said, "Zac, what motivated you to pick up your stuff? The money?"

He grinned and said, "Yes."

We'll see if the motivation holds up.