I'm a simple gal. As such, it doesn't take much to make me smile.
And though Friday was jam-packed, the grin I still carry is from quality time, not the quantity of things we did.
(However, in the eight short hours we had, we did get a lot accomplished.)
The day's mission was back to school shopping, specifically shoes for my son who is now wearing a size 15. Although I could've done it on a Saturday, I took vacation time to spend some one on one with my towering teen.
Now, I don't know many teenage boys who willingly want to spend a day out with mom, much less shopping, but "Mom & Me" days are somewhat of a tradition in this house. Hearing Noah's excitement this week, when he talked about our plans, brought joy before the day even began.
The only thing that would've made the outing better is if we weren't on a time limit but my hard-working boy had a 4:00 shift to clock in to.
And I got him there with minutes to spare!
We crammed a day of shopping, sushi, a matinee, and a stop for frozen yogurt in the few hours we had. Noah asked for none of it, being so thankful and frugal our whole trip.
Well, actually he did simultaneously say "Orange Leaf" when I leaned over and said, "You know what would cap off this day?...." And then we both laughed.
Laughter was a big part of our day. Noah had me snickering at purchasing every color of shorts Academy Sports had, when we found a great deal. Not one to care about labels, he gasped when comparing the savings shorts with a name brand.
"Why would anybody pay that much just for a logo?" he exclaimed, "I can get six pairs to this one!"
He was so price conscious, I had to persuade him to buy much of anything. I'd watch his body language for things that caught his eye. And then I'd show him how we'd go online, find a coupon, and save 20% at the register.
At Shoe Carnival, I walked in hopeful but worried we wouldn't find anything in his size that he liked. To my surprise, we were in and out in 15 minutes. Although I could've hand-picked the bright orange tennis shoes he wore out the store, he shocked me by buying some stylish slip-on canvas shoes. My face must've questioned him because he shrugged and said, "I'm unique, Mom."
One of the highlights of the day was our ride home. Running behind, because Noah had to sample every flavor of frozen yogurt before choosing, I was attempting to eat my treat and get him to point B on time. Safely. I'd scoop in a few bites (coconut and pistachio - yum) at every stoplight. In the end, I drank the melted mixture. Of course, mine went quicker because it was only a swirl or two.
Noah's was a heaping mound of weird concoctions. Peanut butter and mango bobos. Strawberry cheesecake and marshmallow creme. For whatever reason, he thought it'd be funny to stuff a spoonful in my mouth just as I was yawning. Now, there's two reasons this received an odd reaction from me.
One, it was gross. I don't even want to recount the weird textures and flavor combinations my taste buds experienced. Second, I have a really, really small mouth. Although it was a "normal" size for him, I had ice cream coming out of my ears. But it was too gross and cold to just swallow and I couldn't spit it out because I was driving down the road.
I was gagging and snorting. He was laughing. In the end, I was all but peeing my pants. As we cornered his pizza parking lot on two wheels, he rolled out gasping for air. It was a wonderful day that will always hold fond memories.
For after all, he reminded me this week..."Just three more years, Mom," as we were making plans for start of another school season.
Yes, this momma knows. Much like he has a countdown to turning 16, I am holding tight to every precious moment, because I know one day I'll blink and he'll be full grown. I'm already pushing in the brakes before this sophomore year even begins.
Time seems to go quicker with every passing year.
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