A Mother/Daughter Day

We had a few Mystery Jar days this past week.  One was a magic workshop at the library, another was a trip to Hobby Lobby ($15 limit for each), another was going to the movie theater to see Despicable Me 2, another was family movie night here at home, with pizza and popcorn (we watched Brave and then after Alayah went to bed we watched Safe Haven) and yesterday, the teenager and I had our Mother/ Daughter Day and Steve and the six-year-old had their Father/Daughter Day.  So the Mystery Jar is going well and the girls are enjoying all their surprises.  If you don't know what the Mystery Jar is, you can read about it here.

Hobby Lobby was a great idea for several reasons.  The first one, well, it's Hobby Lobby!  Who doesn't love that store!  I was originally thinking that the girls would get some kind of "craft" to keep them busy during those, "there's nothing to do" moments.  They each had $15 to spend.  I already had an idea for Alayah, art supplies (she is my little artist in the making).  So we settled on an art pad (however, next time we will get a spiral pad because pages are coming out of this one too easily. Rookie mistake, I guess), some pastels and an art bin (used my 40% coupon for the bin).

 

I picked up the Crayola's at Wal-Mart.  A great variety of skintone colors. Alayah was very pleased!

 

 

 

Alexa settled on a cute lamp instead of a craft.  The lamp was $15 and was the color that she is wanting to add to her room (black and white).  She had some more money to spend (babysitting money) and bought a few wall decorations as well. More about her room in my next post.

 

Hobby Lobby was definitely a big hit! I love using my coupon and checking out their 50% off sales! If you haven't been there, you should really check it out.

 

 

On Friday, Alexa and I had a Mother/Daughter day (we try to do a few of those a year).  Alexa had earned some money for her grades (I know not everyone agrees with this practice, but it is something that Steve and I have agreed on.  When you are taking honors classes and balancing that with drama, speech and soccer, we thought earning some cash for good grades was a great reward! She earned $140!).

 

With money in tow and a back to school shopping account, we took off to the mall!  Where else would we go, right?  We did some shopping, found some great deals, and even picked up a few more things for her room.  But what this mama enjoys the most, is quality time spent with her daughter.  The minute we get in the car, the fifteen year old says, "Wait." She pulls out her phone and takes a picture.

 

 

We go on our way and something amazing happens...she talks.  She talks and laughs.  She contorts her face in all kinds of contortions as she talks about this person or that person.  She rolls her eyes when she tells me about some boy who keeps texting her, who apparently 'doesn't get the hint'.  She then smiles as she talks about a different boy.  We talk about the past school year and what she enjoyed the most and what she is looking forward to in the upcoming school year. We talk about the inevitable  troubles with girls and the groups that form and then fray.  We giggle at facebook posts as we listen to music (Country). She laughs, shaking her head as she exclaims, "Country music is taking over my phone! Like, how did that even happen?" 

 

 While we shop, we ooh and ahh at all the cute clothes.  She enters the dressing room while I sit nearby.  I shake my head with disapproval at one thing or another.  She rolls her eyes and says, "Whatever."  I sit there standing my ground as she disrobes when I hear another mom nearby argue the same argument with her teenage daughter.  I slowly turn my head, as to not make it obvious and I see the woman contemplating her decision.  She then says to her daughter, "I'm not saying 'no', I'm just saying 'let's look around some more'. I fill up with relief knowing I'm not alone in this saga.  To my surprise, the fifteen year old doesn't continue her complaint (by the way, the clothing in question was a pair of shorts, not too short in length by any means, but way too tight.  They were not the best cut and just looked uncomfortable. HA!).

 

After shopping at a few more stores she says, "I really don't need anything else.  I have plenty of stuff at home."  I think to myself, so glad that came from her and not me. We leave the mall and share lunch.  She insists on sushi

 

And like a typical kid, she quickly remembers that she doesn't like the texture of  sushi after taking a few bites.  It's my turn to shake my head and remind her that she begged for sushi instead of Panera or Chipotle.  She laughs embarrassingly and promises to eat everything else (and she doesn't).  After I enjoyed my lunch I suggested we go next door to the cupcake shop. 

She doesn't complain

We continue on home and recap the day.  We talk about the clothes and what shoes would go great with what.  In between our conversation she pauses to answer a text (I ignore it, remembering she is  a teenage girl).  I feel like a close friend when she shares those text conversations with me. We laugh at what 'so and so' said or I offer advice.  We have very little moments of silence...until she reminds me that she gets to drive some of the way home.  We stop at a designated location and swap seats. We drive in silence.  I offer very few directions and think to myself, she's better than I thought.  She then tells me about the time that she almost hit a car while driving with dad.  I laugh it off.

We pull into the drive way (in one piece).  We get out of the car and I want to take her in my arms and squeeze her to pieces. I love her so much.  But I don't.  I don't because before we walk into the house, she throws her arms around me.  It's at this moment that I'm convinced that she had just as much fun as I did. It's at this moment that I feel her saying, "You are the best mom anybody could ever have!"

It's at this moment that I make a mental note, Mother/Daughter Day is my most favorite day!