A special time

"What do you want for your birthday?"
"Clothes."
"When do you want to go shopping?"
"Monday works for me. How about you?"
"That should work, but in the afternoon. Or, I could just give you money to go out and get what you want yourself."
"I'd rather you go with me."
"Okay. Maybe we could grab a bite of dinner afterward."
"Sounds like a plan!"

This is an exchange that I have with my Grandma almost every year around my birthday. She is a big believer in taking people out and letting them choose what they would like for birthdays, Christmas and anniversaries. It does make sense, because then you aren't stuck digging for a receipt, having to stand in line to return the item and pick something new out. But, it's always been more than that to me. We've been going shopping for my birthday since I was three years old, and even though the dynamics have changed, I have always seen it as a special time to spend with my Grandma.

This used to be a whole day event - usually on a Saturday - including eating lunch in the midst of shopping, eating dinner afterward at TrailDust and ending the day by going home and showing Mom and Dad what I got. When I was a pre-teen and even a teen, we would hit Westminster Mall (which used to be super-cool!) look around the entire mall before decididng to go to stores such as 5-7-9, Express, Joslins Juniors, etc. I would load Grandma's arms up with so many clothes that it took over an hour to try everything on and decide what looked good and what didn't. There was always a "Maybe" pile, a "No" pile and a "Definitely Yes" pile. Grandma was always good at making sure to ask "Now are you sure that you are going to wear this?" or "Do you have something to wear this with?" I remember getting a couple shirts where I said, "Oh yeah sure I will wear this all the time with such and such" but I never did, I just had to have them.

How times have changed! This year when we went shopping, Brooklyn was hanging in her stroller making the very cool new sound she just learned "DaDaDaDaDa," I knew exactly where I wanted to go and instead of loading Grandma's arms up with my selection to try on, I used the stroller. We spent less than a half-hour in the dressing room trying on the same amount of clothes that I always tried on. Grandma kept telling me that I didn't have to go so fast and to slow down. But, as any mom knows, trying on clothes with a baby that is almost ready to nurse, doesn't really work, especially if you take your time. And, I'm not a mom that will let my kiddo cry and cry while I'm selfishly trying on clothes. It worked. I picked out a selection of clothes that I liked, we made the three separate piles of yes, no and maybe and Brooklyn was satisfied playing with her keys and her baby cloth Bible. After all the shopping the three of us sat down and had a nice dinner, and then headed home to show Kevin what I picked out.

The dynamics and the amount of time we spend might have changed, but I wouldn't trade this time with my Grandma for the world. And, some might say that it's because she's buying me clothes that I want to spend time with her, but it's really not. I would spend time with my Grandma even if we were just hanging out at my house or hers.