Clothes Shopping with Tweens

Daughter and I went to our closest Out of Town Shopping Centre with a view to buying some necessaries for Guide camp.  As always it degenerated into a fashion shop which can be joyous or not, wholly depending on the mood of child or phase of the moon.  But I was astounded by some of the comments I heard other mothers saying to the children:

"You can have anything you like, not one of those, you'd rather have one of these, this is better"
ahhhh so not anything he likes then

"You can't have that, I don't like the colour or the style or anything about it"

You're not the one that's going to be wearing it!

"If you don't start to cheer up and behave yourself we're going straight home now, do you hear me"

I'm guessing that's the kid's plan!

My input into shopping with daughter usually involves me lifting up a hanger with a hopeful expression and putting it straight back again as she raises an eyebrow at me.  I am also good for carrying bags and fetching different sizes in the changing rooms.  I will occasionally try to steer her away from something that will make her look more beached whale than beach party but mainly I just leave her to it and stump up the cash. 

After watching with shock the way some parents talk to their children I turned the listening inwards and annoyed myself by hearing  a similar contradiction.

"I don't really have the money for this at the moment.  Would you like one of these too?"
Great, let's teach her how to live in the 'I want it now world' and rack up debt!

Mother and daughter shopping...on the whole it is a pleasant experience for us, I find we tend to leave the shops an hour too late, just as the strain has really set in but I have found the best way to deal with it is to not get too wrapped up in anything for myself.  A quick shoe try or perhaps the odd try on at the same time but just see it as a time for some time together, I love the conversations we have whilst wandering about.

I stood with the mother of a 19 year old girl outside the changing rooms and we laughed at the folly of it, it cheered me up nicely to know there are a few more years of this in it for us yet.