Hippo Brigade

Mommy and Me Date

The other day, Berlyn and I went on what I assume to be the first of MANY shopping trips. And when I say MANY in all-caps like that, I’m not only shouting at you, but I’m doing it in a British accent, like I’m saying min-aay, but what I mean is too many to count, like one billion and seventeen future shopping trips.

And when I say shopping trips I mean, just her and me, hanging out. Not running errands, trying to find eco-friendly laundry detergent and wheat germ. Because we do that all the time. Because we never have enough eco-friendly laundry detergent and wheat germ.

But we don’t ever just go out together and talk about girly things.

Well, partly because she’s four and talking to her pretty much goes like this:

Hey mom, what if bears wore hats and went to work in the morning?

That would be hilarious Berlyn.

Mom, hey, mom. Mom! Hey, what if bears had mustaches!?

Mustaches on a bear? That’s just crazy talk.

MOM!! OH my gosh!! What if bears drove cars!?

What? A bear in a car? Incredulous.

But seriously Berlyn, if you ever see a bear in a car, you make sure you drop and roll out of the way. You got that? Tuck and roll Berlyn, tuck and roll.

I never miss an opportunity to admonish on the dangers of bears.

But now that Berlyn is getting older it’s fun to take her out just the two of us. A month ago we went and saw a movie together, and for Valentine’s Day her daddy took her on a date to Build-A-Bear and sushi. She just adores sushi, and when I say sushi I mean edamame and plain udon noodles. But to her, she might as well be eating a slimy plate of sashimi.

So there we were, just the two of us at Fashion Island, and I didn’t bring a stroller or a giant mom bag. Instead I had a small purse with chap stick, a phone, and a wallet. No snacks, no waters, no baby wipes, no crayons, and no small toys.

We jumped on the rocks at the koi pond, we tried on shoes at Bloomingdales, we touched all the tiny treasures at Anthropologie, we sat on the mod couches at Jonathan Adler, and then we had lunch at the swanky restaurant in Nieman Marcus called Mariposa. Although we clearly weren’t wearing enough Chanel, they still treated us like queens. And afterwards Berlyn got to munch on a lollypop.

It was super fun, and on the way home Berlyn kept saying how much she loved having time with just her mommy. And I loved that we were able to do that. My mom and I still go on shopping trips together and they are something that I cherish.

It gives me so much joy to know that I’m passing down this tradition of spending money, er, I mean time with my daughter.

I know there will be MANY, MANY more shopping trips in our future.

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