10 Mistakes at the Mall

I wasn’t going to waste time searching for Halloween costumes for the twins. They want to be a puppy and a kitten, and since they were puppies last year, I had a plan. Last year, I went to JCPenney and found great, plush, adorable puppy costumes for around $14. I figured I’d go in, get the same thing in the next size up, use a coupon, save a little money, and be done with it. They could wear the costumes all month, have a great Halloween, wear them the rest of the year, etc. It was a great plan. But here’s what happened:

This morning, I told the girls we were going to the store to buy their Halloween costumes (that’s mistake #1). They’re excited. We pack up the diaper bag, but I don’t bother bringing snacks and drinks because obviously we’re just going into that one store, buying the costumes and leaving (no snacks, #2). We drive to the mall, and upon exiting the car, I say, “Oh, we don’t need the stroller, we won’t be here long, you can just walk” (two toddlers on foot, #3).

So we go into JCPenney, where to my surprise, the costumes are not right in the doorway like last year. Apparently it doesn’t occur to me that stores move their inventory around or even have different inventory from year to year (#4). So we wander around a bit, looking. There are a few infant-sized costumes, but nothing in 3T which is what we need. So I find a lady who works there and she helps me look. We wander some more, and then she goes to ask someone else. The girls are doing well; they’re playing in the clothing racks but are still thinking we’re getting a costume, so it’s okay. Eventually, the lady comes out and says, “We have no Halloween costumes this year.” HUH?

Okay, mommy, don’t panic. I think, hey, let’s just run over to the shoe store and look for sneakers for the girls so this isn’t a wasted trip. The shoe store is just outside the JCPenney. The girls are happily walking, but now questioning me, “Where are the costumes? Where’s my puppy costume?” And I divert their attention to sneakers, and of course we can’t find those in their size, so now they’re disappointed about that, and then…

They see the top of the merry-go-round from our second floor location. It doesn’t open until 11:00. It is now 10:15. Uh-oh. I tell them it’s not open. “But the lights are on, Mommy. I love the merry-go-round!” I decide to use this to my advantage; I tell them that we’ll try a few more stores for costumes and shoes, and then we’ll ride the merry-go-round (#5). Of course, they agree. We start on our trek. We try Children’s Place, Gymboree, Macy’s, Baby Gap, two more shoe stores. We’re not getting anywhere. It’s still not 11:00, I can’t back out now. The tide is turning. “I’m hunnnnnngry, Mommy. I want a snack” (see #2). We find the actual Halloween store at the mall, but they are too afraid to go in because of the scary clowns (#6, now they’ll hate clowns). They’re upset now. No costumes, no shoes, no snack, no drinks, but at least it’s almost 11:00.

We get to the merry-go-round and I buy the tokens, $4 for them both to ride, ridiculous but reasonable at this point in the venture. I let them hold their own tokens (#7) and we get in line. They refuse to hand over their “money” to the ride operator so we can go on. They want to keep their money “in a piggy like brother,” the way their brother has three piggy banks operating right now. Somehow we turn in the tokens and get on the horses. Since there’s only one of me (#8), I have to put them on two animals, a cat and a horse, so the second twin doesn’t get to pick her favorite animal (#9) and stand in between them. This seems all right until we start moving, and both girls start sliiiiding towards me in the center. I can’t reposition one without letting go of the other, so by the end, they’re both cattywampus and think they’re going to fall.

But the smiles. You should have seen their smiles. That made the whole outing worth it. Almost. As I was taking them off the horses to go, I looked down and saw that the fly on my jeans was unzipped (#10); it was probably that way since we left the house. Loser!

Photo by jelene