Shopping

“Beside, I am not unkeen on shopping either.”

   The Dinosaur in A Lovely Love Story

At our wedding BWM and I chose The Lovely Love Story by Edward Monkton as our reading. It tells the story of the Dinosaur (boy) meeting The Lovely Other Dinosaur (girl), their love of things (like rugby for the boy) and shopping (for the girl). Toward the end of the story, after showing an initial reticence, The Dinosaur admits to having a soft spot for shopping.

Of course, shopping for The Dinosaur (me) has to be focused and have a clear purpose. Whether it be purchasing food or finding the perfect gift for BWM I’m the man. However, if it comes to wandering the shops looking in windows I’m somewhere else!

In the few months I have been a stay at home dad shopping has taken on new parameters. A friend of mine who had been a stay at home dad with two kids said to me, “Shopping centres are your friend, you can kill half a day there easily.” He gave me a few tips and he has so far been pretty much spot on. I’ve got to know the shopping centres and village shops in my local area quite well. Shopping becomes somewhat like a mathematical equation:

Probably the “Availability of good coffee” is the most important one to me and because of that I usually end up going to Balmain despite the difficulty of finding a free space in a very cramped car park. Otherwise I have to bite the bullet and pay (but only very rarely).

I’ve got other choices too and sometimes when I get there I even manage to score the parents with prams parking spot. I used to think these were just spots closer to the door and yes at some places they are. However, when you find one where the width of the space is bigger it’s like the clouds have parted and an angelic choir is singing as you take your child out of the car. They’re that good I almost think I’m ready to do laps of the car park and stalk people with prams so that I can get that spot!

I guess I’ve covered my food shopping and shopping centre visits. However, H and I recently went into the city to purchase BWM her birthday present. BWM had for her birthday requested a new set of earrings and prior to our city visit I had done some internet research. I finally found what I thought to be the perfect pair of earrings at Tiffanys but I needed to see them first.  Getting into the city was quite an interesting exercise because doing it after peak hour and before sleep time was an exercise in logistics in itself. Having made the decision to drive in and pay the parking H and I made sure we were able to arrive at the shop of choice at its appointed opening at 10am. I even made sure H and I both wore something suitable for going into town, rather than our usual 10am fare.

Going into any shop with a small child can go one of two ways – disaster or awesome. Upon our arrival at the store we went up the lift to the 1^st floor and after being in his stroller for a while H decided he had had enough – he wanted out. I made a decision at that point that I could soon regret; I parked up and let H out for a walk. This was a move fraught with danger as the first shop assistant approached me. H who was beside me didn’t miss a beat; he just looked up and smiled. As the second shop assistant arrived a few seconds after, H’s smile got bigger. By this time I had picked him up and he was turning on the charm, smiling and gabbling as only infants of 13 months can do. It also meant that 4 of the 5 staff that were working on the floor were helping H and I (I’m not sure what the other dozen customers thought of this but H was just being too charming). The earrings were purchased and we received great service and advice in getting BWM her birthday present. With the present brought we were able to get home with the logistics side a raging success as well. 

Of course now that I’ve taken off my Dinosaur who likes to shop hat, I may be wrong about all of this. Perhaps there is a button under the counter, next to the hold up alarm, which says small child on the loose – serve them quickly and get them out by giving them a great park just near the door. If there is I will certainly be trying to find all the shops that have one because it makes me not so unkeen on shopping at all!