Shopping with Gram

When I was a little girl, I loved to shop with my grandmother. I bet I couldn't tell you a single thing we bought, but the memories of walking to Wheaton Plaza, stopping at Little Tavern for a tiny burger and a cup of hot chocolate, will stay with me always. These are among my best memories. Sometimes my grandmother took me downtown on the Metrobus, and we went to fancy stores that had elevator operators. That job didn't make much sense to me at the time and still doesn't now.

Today I started what I hope will be a similar tradition with my twelve-year-old granddaughter. While we had a great time, I came to appreciate my grandmother's patience. My granddaughter is pleasant and well-behaved, but (like all girls her age, I'm sure) takes a long time to make her shopping choices. Since today's purchases were her Christmas presents, I wanted to let her take her time. But by the fifth store, I was kind of wiped out. It's not as if she was taking advantage of my letting her choose; it's that she seemed unable to decide but had to touch and examine nearly every item in the store. On one hand, that was good because it meant she knew she couldn't get everything. On the other hand, it made for excruciatingly long periods of time in Claire's and Justice (among other stores). I tried to tell her that Macy's has nice things, but she was sure there wouldn't be any cool clothes there. I promised I would go in the "cool kid" stores if she'd look around the girls' department at Macy's with me. (This wasn't entirely altruistic; I wanted to shop more in Macy's.) She was amazed that the best outfit she found was at Macy's, and she should be glad her dad went up there with her while I took her little sister with me. I would not have let her get the top with the shredded shoulders (apparently all the rage with pre-teens now), but he did.

While we were at dinner, she thanked me again for her things and told me it was the best shopping experience she'd ever had. I hadn't spent more than I would have otherwise, and we spent time together and she got what she really wanted. I think this really will be a new tradition.