/> Raising Angels: A Swimmingly Good Boy

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

A Swimmingly Good Boy

I had to go shopping for a one-piece swimsuit today (required for me to chaperone both of the boys' end of the year pool parties). I have come to love the tankini for their ease, style, and the fact that the majority of them are actually more modest than many one-piece suits I've seen advertised. I own one one-piece suit but I've had it for about ten years so when I pulled it out, it looked threadbare.  One bad move and it would be in pieces. I had today only to remedy this situation.

I'm not sure why but I actually thought I'd just run to Target, pick one up and be done with the whole thing. Apparently, it's been awhile since I've shopped for a swimsuit. At Target I found one bathing suit in my size and it was barely worth trying on. I did though because of the afore mentioned optimistic attitude. Unfortunately, it didn't look any better on me than it did on the hanger.

Thank God Max is a good sport because when I told him we were headed to the mall he said, "Yes! I love the mall."

"Why do you love the mall?"

"It's fun! You can throw a penny in the fountain. They have an elevator AND a cabininagor (or escalator). Hey! Can we eat there?"

Man I love that kid. I promised him lunch and that I would look at the swimsuits and nothing else. He happily trailed along. Here's what I found as I shopped for the elusive suit: apparently, they think no one under size 14 wear the things; the ones that are cute are upwards of $120; and the ones that are a bit more affordable look like something I wouldn't make my grandmother wear.

We wandered through stores and perused through racks and racks of suits. "Here's a one piece," I would tell him.

"Okay get it and let's go," he offered.

"Oh buddy, I wish it were that easy, but girls never buy bathing suits without trying them on."

Three pennies in the fountain, five escalator and two elevator rides, lunch and six stores later I finally found a few I was willing to take into the dressing room. I put the first one on and said, "Hey, I kind of like this," in a bit of odd wonder.

"Great, let's take it out of here and go home," said Max.

Here I had to explain to Max the wonder of shopping with women. "That would be great, but I don't want one that's just okay. I want to really love it."

"I love it," he tried.

Thankfully Max is Max and this caused no tantrum or even complaining. He simply entertained himself by making faces in the mirror and asking me a myriad of questions that I'm sure were very entertaining to the other women listening in.

In the meantime I tried all the other suits on and loved a few more. "Okay, take that one and let's go home," he offered again.

Of course, I had to try the ones I liked on again. Finally I settled on one I really liked that had a price tag I could live with. "Alright," celebrated Max, "we're going to leave now right?"

At the end of the day I walked away with a very satisfactory suit and the knowledge that I have been given the best four-year-old boy on the planet.

2 Comments:

Blogger Optimistic Existentialist said...

I'll be shopping this weekend for our family's Cape San Blas trip next month! I need to get some new swimming trunks. I'm glad you found a nice swimming suit!

8:41 AM  
Blogger nicole said...

I'm glad he was a good sport. I'm not sure I would have the patience to take kids along while shopping for a swimsuit. As I've gotten older I don't mind spending more money a well-made suit that flatters. But I haven't bought a one piece in years.

3:29 PM  

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