Pajama Shopping

As I’ve mentioned before, “tax season” is the busy time of the year for my wife.  She’s a tax preparer, so April 18th for her was the equivalent of the last day of school for me as a teacher–it’s time to take a deep breath and try to relax just a bit.  The next year is coming, but for now it’s time to slow down and catch up.

Our granddaughters have missed their Nana, who likes to spend the other ten months of the year seeing them considerably more than she has over the last two.  It’s not as if they haven’t seen each other, but it hasn’t been as much as any of them would like.  This year, as things started to draw to a close, my wife announced a treat for the end of the season: We would take the girls pajama shopping!

Now, for me, I didn’t really understand the excitement of going shopping for what in essence is an old pair of gym shorts and a past-its-prime t-shirt.

Okay, despite having never been a two- or three-year-old girl, I guess I did understand.  What was it going to be? Trolls have been popular, and My Little Pony is still high on the list of things that make their hearts beat faster.  Maybe a favorite color: pink for the older and purple for the younger.  Regardless, I knew that gym shorts and an old t-shirt wasn’t what they had in mind.

Tax season saw its last day pass, and it was finally shopping day.  If this was a movie, the day would have dawned clear and crisp with a light breeze to make it more exciting for the butterflies and flowers to dance in the air.  As it turned out, though, an unseasonably cool morning, a wind from the north, and a fine mist is what greeted us as we stepped out of the house.  Not quite one of Pooh’s blustery days, but not a beautiful spring morning, either.  

The shopping experience came and went, and a good time was–for the most part–had by all.  The three-year-old was just excited because somethingwashappeningsomethingwashappening! and the two-year-old turned out to be, well, two.  That’s okay, we had fun and made a memory, if not for them, then for us.  If our plans for next year hold out, we’ll be out there again in the middle of April with two children who are another year older, ready to go through a new selection of pjs in search of the just-perfect pair.  

Me? I’m so much more than happy with what I’ve got, thanks…and my pajamas are okay, too.