A Shallow Use of Time?

I just spent the evening shopping with my daughter.  To those who brush off shopping as a shallow use of one’s time, I say that there’s a lot more to shopping than spending money.  I know this, because we have just as much fun whether we have money or not. 

This feeling goes back to when I would shop with my Mom.  We would talk about anything and everything as we walked through the mall.  We would giggle and laugh at outrageous fashions and ridiculous prices.  We would try to guess how much an item would cost.  We would gasp with excitement at an incredibly reduced clearance item.  But it was all of the in between that made it such a special time.  Talking about friends, boys, school, music, and whatever was happening in our life.  I shared more with my Mom trying clothes on in the dressing room, than I ever did at home.  Occasionally, there would be a goal such as a new pair of jeans, or a dress for a dance, but for the most part we were just spending time together.  And we loved it.

Now, with having raised five daughters, I realize we have spent and still spend, a lot of time shopping.  Again, people might say it is a petty or worldly waste of time… but I disagree.  We walk together smiling, locked arm in arm talking… and talking… and talking.  I have hurt myself laughing several times, when one of us tried on something that although it looked nice on the hanger, looked positively ridiculous on a real person.  Two new granddaughters have already added to our shopping memories.  We now know that despite the guarantees of a diapers leak proof barrier, these promises do not hold true while in the mall.  I could go on and on, but the point is that when my daughter said “Hey let’s go shopping!” it meant that she wanted to spend time with me.  She wanted to hang out with me.

Sure, we all do have our weaknesses.  No jacket within a five mile radius of my daughter is safe.  She will find it.  I, on the other hand, can name every mall with a See’s Chocolates location in the state of Utah.  And shoes… well… shoes are a universal weakness that runs deep in us all.  It’s genetic. 

Jackets and shoes are the things that are petty and worldly… and probably the chocolates… but the shopping?  It’s somuchmore.