A glimpse into my future

I went shopping yesterday at the Round Rock outlet stores. Now I know this would be torture for some of you, (Randy, cough, cough) but for those of you that don't know, I am a shopper. I love to shop for shoes, clothes, bathroom towels, scented soaps, socks, toaster ovens, you name it, I love to shop for it. I am one of those crazy women that is up at 4:30 a.m. the day after Thanksgiving to be at JCPennys for their door buster sales and I fully support any legislative bill that would deem "Black Friday" as a national holiday. My love for shopping is not just a hobby, but a passion and something I would be proud to list on my resume when applying for a job. I love to shop, period.

Yesterday at the outlet mall, I had a moment in which I was able to see into the future and I think I may have scared myself. It was the tax-free weekend here in TX, again I could support that being a national holiday, and the mall was packed. But unlike shopping during the holidays when the malls are just full of people, yesterday was packed with families shopping for their children, something I've never been able to do. Kids were every where, crying babies abounded, three year old children screaming to go on the motorized pony one more time, and I was constantly dodging and weaving strollers. Single strollers, double side-by-side strollers, umbrella strollers...I had never seen so many strollers in my life. And it dawned on me as I tried to weave my way through the Tommy Hilfiger store and I watched these families try to squeeze those double strollers through the aisles that having children puts a serious crimp on shopping. It suddenly became clear to me that in only a few months I'm going to be one of those tired, glassy eyed women that I saw yesterday trying to get their children to hold on for one more store so they could finish their shopping.

Then it happened, my saving grace in a pair of pink Crocs...a little girl with a bouncing pony tail who looked about three years old yelling for her mama to come look at all the pretty jewelry. Every time her mother would pull another pair of earrings off the rack the little girl would ooh and aah and clap her hands at how pretty they were. She cheered for necklaces and head bands and told her mother the pink flowered belt she saw hanging up would "match my Crocs perfectly" and I realized that maybe, just maybe God would give me a little pint sized shopper that I could pass along my passion for shopping, like Yoda to a young Jedi, and I would have someone to second my motion enacting "Black Friday" as a nationally observed holiday, someone to agree with me that if done correctly, white shoes past Labor day are okay, and someone to cheer and clap over her new pretty earrings that match her pink Crocs "perfectly".