This post is sponsored by GapKids. Check out all the fun Shine On activities at your nearest Gap store. For event dates and locations, visit Gap’s Facebook page and join the conversation on Twitter with hashtag #ShineOn.
Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to take my children to a clothing store, pick up the items that we need, stand at the cash register for several minutes and then leave, all without raising my voice above polite conversation level, issuing threats and/or bribes, or getting down on my hands and knees to clean up a mess.
You can blame it on bad parenting – and you may be right – but my kids are just kind of wild. For years I avoided any retail situation where I couldn’t stuff all three of them into one cart. When people exclaimed over how lucky I was to have a Trader Joe’s so close to my house, I’d say that I never shopped there – the carts are too small. Have you ever seen the carts at Costco? Heaven. So of course the mall was an impossibility.
Until recently that is, when I could no longer ignore the judgey looks I was getting for my cart full of children eating donuts… It was time to give up that system. So I bring my free range kids to the mall and hope that a combination of efficient shopping and the promise of ice cream will keep their chaos at a minimum.
But last Saturday, I had the amazing experience of peacefully browsing while my children quietly entertained themselves in a non-disruptive or destructive way. I took the twins to a Gap Kids that was hosting a “Shine On” event where the small customers could sit at supervised craft tables and use their creative powers for good, not evil.
The project: Journals! By Mer Mag.
Not a single glare or exasperated sigh was directed at either me OR my kids. At a clothing store without shopping carts OR sugary treats? This was most definitely a first.
If you live in the DC area and would like to check out a Shine On event at Gap Kids, there is still one more left: Pentagon City mall (1100 S. Hayes St., Arlington, VA 22202) from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (or visit the Facebook page to see a full list of stores participating across the country). I highly recommend it. In fact, you may just see us there…
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
That is like a dream come true!
Connie Weiss recently posted..1…2…3, Eyes On Me
You deserve a break, Kate! My parents had the same issues….3 of us very close together with rambunctious, active personalities. We used to get into the MOST trouble at wallpaper/paint stores or hardware stores with doorbells that could be tested. Yikes! The good news is that I eventually simmered down into a pretty sedate adult….
The twins look adorable. Love Eleanor’s creation. xo
annechovie recently posted..STUDY ABROAD
Man. When will this come to France?
Lady Jennie recently posted..A Sunset Near Bordeaux
Oh Kate! My boys in a mall? NOT FUN AT ALL. In a store, while I’m trying to buy something for them? Or me? Impossibly hard! I have left my wallet open by the cash register so I can chase after them when they decide to run away out of the store! I sweat buckets when I shop with my kids! This GAP event sounded like so much fun!