The day after Christmas the girls and I set out for the outlets. They had Christmas cash in their pockets and they were ready to restock on clothes and shoes for school. As we walked around, I noticed that they would only go into certain stores. Those stores were Abercrombie & Fitch, Hollister, Polo, Wet Seal and Aeropostale. They shunned more economical places like Old Navy. I thought I would use this as a teaching moment about getting the most value for your money. Here is how the conversation went:
Princess: “Mom, you don’t understand. I can’t just wear anything. People will talk about me.”
Me: “What people?”
Princess: “I have an image. It’s like when you tried to get me One Star Converse. I can’t wear that.” (Side note: I know my daughter likes Converse sneakers. We were in Target and they sell Converse. I didn’t realize that One Stars are Converse’s country cousin. The one you can’t take anywhere. The horror.)
Diva: “Yeah, she can’t walk around in Skechers like you. She can’t wear Shape Ups.”
(Side note #2: I like Skechers. My girls like to talk about my sneakers but I go for comfort every day. When they were young and had no opinions whatsoever they wore them too. And liked them.)
Me: (still trying to maintain a teaching moment) “Why do you care if people say something? It doesn’t matter if you wear a name brand or not. You’re still the same person.”
Princess: “See, you can wear anything.”
Me: (teaching moment forgotten at the perceived insult) “Are you saying I don’t know how to dress?”
Princess recovered quickly: “No, mom. You have some swag.”
“Swag” means stylish in teenage language. I have to add this term to my teenage dictionary. See my earlier post on bilingual kids.
Diva gave a quick second. I knew I was being played but I liked the thought that I could rock Skechers and still have swag so I let the speech go for the moment. “Okay ladies, let’s get some lunch.”
We enjoyed the rest of our trip. The girls got some cute outfits for school. I actually picked out a couple of things for them that they liked. And I made it through the day without being called “lame” which was a first. It was a Christmas vacation miracle.
Any experiences shopping with teenagers? Please share.