Mall Nirvana

As a Mom of two extremely energetic boys, I’ve had to make some adjustments in my day-to-day living.  I’ve learned to avoid certain places, discipline like nobody’s business and at times, pretend I’m not related to them.  It’s only recently that I’ve grown the courage to take my boys to the library on a regular basis.  For a long time I was certain we were on the library ‘watch list’.  I feared as soon as we crossed the threshold, we would be intercepted by library security.

Having successfully conquered my fear of libraries, stores, doctor’s offices, etc., I didn’t give it a second thought when I needed to run an errand in the mall with the boys in tow.  As soon as we walked in, I had serious pause.

They were awestruck.

They were blown away by the sights and sounds.  They begged to ride on the escalator.  Full Speed almost passed out from joy when he was given a pretzel sample.  T.Puzzle stared longingly as the miniature trained chugged past him.  They wanted to go in every store.  They wanted to eat at every restaurant.  Then it dawned on me, it had been years since I had braved the mall with them.

What else have I sheltered them from without even knowing it?  When they go to college, will they know how to act in socially acceptable ways?  On the bright side, they may forego wild parties for a rockin’ time at the nearest Food Court.