Shopping For Kids

We had to go to the dreaded mall this evening when I got off work. I hate malls. They make me sleepy.

I'm not an official predictor on The Staggering Prophets, but, I think Rivergate may be experiencing the beginning of the end. LOTS of stores are gone from there. Stores that have been there since the beginning of time...Pass Pets, Royal Doulton and others. I think it's a matter of time before it goes the way of Bellevue Mall.

The Daughter weasled her Grandmother Smiff to buy her some stuff at that horrific place....Abercrombie. That place should be outlawed. They play music (warning: old person alert) at a decibel level that surely must cause a hearing loss and they have tshirts that are made out of flimsy material that they charge $20 for. Then there's the $45 and up jeans with holes in them. I hate it.

We ran into The Daughter's best friend (the one who has been so sick with the strep in the kidney thing. She's doing better) and I was telling her mother, no, I was screaming over the loud music, saying how I hate going into that store. This grandfatherly looking man, accompanied by a boy of about 12, said "Amen!" and gave me a high five. Pretty funny.

The really bad part about it is #2 was along for this un-pleasure trip and even though he's 8, he's all about some clothes. He spotted a number of things he wanted and he ended up going home with a spray of the Abercrombie Guy cologne on and a polo shirt. Ugh.

#2 has several images he's working on at the moment, the latest include these black cowboy boots that were handed down to him through Grascal Jimmy's son. He wears them EVERYWHERE and with every kind of ensemble you can imagine.....shorts, khaki pants, jeans....you name it, the cowboy boots go with #2 everywhere he goes. The Daughter is highly embarrassed by the boots.."Does he HAVE to wear the boots?" she is often heard inquiring of late. I tell her "He's 8. If he were 15 and doing this, I'd be concerned."

Another "look" #2 goes for is the Steve and Joe look...the Steve and Joe of "Blues Clues." He's been perfecting these looks for a long time now. He doesn't want anybody his age knowing he still thinks this is the show of shows. He has a green and blue striped rugby shirt he wears with khaki pants, just like Steve and he found a blue, long sleeve shirt to wear to look like Joe. Even when it's 100 degrees out, like it has been, it's not unusual to find him in that long sleeve Steve shirt a lot of days. The only difference is I don't recall Steve or Joe ever wearing cowboy boots with their outfits.

#1 could care less about fashion. He likes the screen print tshirts with retro rock stars on them. He's the easiest kid to shop for, although I did go to White Bridge Rd. Target today trying to find him an ACDC Back in Black tshirt. The Hendersonville Target was out of them (of course, I've seen hundreds of them there and they are nowhere to be find when I need one) and all White Bridge Rd, had was tshirts that said "For Those About To Rock-1982 Tour" on it. He was happy. AND it only cost $12.99. I was happy about that.