When I dream of having a daughter, I imagined that we would shop together for matching outfits. When I brought my daughter to the mall for the first time after she started walking, I realized very quickly that my dream of shopping with my daughter is a long time away. Today, I am inspired to tell my Motherhood War Story. I have seen it all when comes to parenting. I have become a freezer wizard on days when I am too exhausted to plan and execute a meal.
Here is my war story about the first time toddler trip to the mall. My daughter and I started the mall trip focusing on her by stopping in an educational toy shop. She loved playing with all the toys, but when it was time to meet up with our friend to play at the indoor playground, she did not want to leave. I picked her up thinking I could carry her to the playground. She proceed to pull my hair out of the front of my head. It was lovely meeting up with my friend with my hair sticking straight pulled out of my pony tail. I thought this was just a tantrum because she wanted to play with toys. But, this was just the beginning of the crazy adventure at the mall that day.
My daughter played happily for a few hours, but when it was time to eat, she did not want to leave. My good eater wanted to continue playing and did not want to get in the stroller. Little did I know that she would never want to get in the stroller again. All those lucky moms that push their kids around until they are 5 years old….not me! I did not even get 1 year of use out of my 3 strollers.
We finally get to the food court and she wants 3 different things from 3 different places. We ended up with pizza and chinese food!
I should have left the mall at this point, but NO! I figured she is full and happy and we can shop around a little. My heart hurts even thinking about this. I swear I lost a few years off my life from this day. We went into H&M and my daughter hid under the clothes. I looked for her feet and called for with no answer for what felt like 10 minutes. It was probably only a minute maybe even less, but when you cannot find your child, seconds turns to minutes. I finally found her and she thought it was the funniest thing ever. I avoid going to the mall with her unless I have back up helping to keep track of her. She knows better now and listens better, but even the thought of her hiding from me again gives me anxiety and heart palpitations.
