A SAHM's shopping excursion: budgets, blinders, bargains

A change in the season means a shopping trip for a few items to spice up my weekly attire. One might think this is an easy task since A) I’m available for mall shopping a good part of the week B) I have a limited range of clothing needs. But clothes shopping involves careful planning, pre-shopping motivation and virtual blinders to keep from buying unnecessary things.

Let’s start with the timing for SAHM shopping. While I do have most days of the week to “shop,” bringing a four-year old and almost-three-year old to the mall for mommy clothes shopping is well….stupid. If you can do it, my hat is off to you! My kids don’t sit in the stroller anymore and can’t be bribed for more than about 30 minutes. With kids in tow, that eliminates every day and time except when my kids are mutually in school….which gives me 2 ½ hours twice a week. I tend to want to use that time for my writing—call me selfish. So I’m left with the weekends. Can I just say how much I absolutely hate the mall on the weekends.

So my date with the mall was Saturday afternoon. Kids are with playing with dad outside in the beautiful weather, I have four hours to get to Tyson’s Corner and back before I have to babysit a friend’s toddler.

Some prep work had to be done before this date. I needed to take full inventory of my current closet and see what wouldn’t make it from last spring/summer/fall into this season. Every SAHM has her standard wardrobe basics (and if you don’t, you should invest in these):
--a great pair of jeans, usually ones which can be worn over and over again before washing—that is unless you get dirt, paint, food, etc on them—and then they should be so fabulous you can just wipe it off;
--a few stretchy T-shirts all similar in style but in different colors that can be dressed up or down with skirts, shorts, jeans, slacks, necklaces, scarves, etc;
--a comfy pair of shoes to wear just about anywhere;
--great accessories like mentioned above to make you feel fabulous.

So I was set to find a few new T-shirts, a few tops other than the boring T-shirts and a pair of flats.

Ok, now ready, steady, shop!

I park in the garage, far away and walk--realizing I can park anywhere since I don’t have to worry about toting in the monkeys. Ahhhhh…freedom. I look around and glance at my watch. I’m now down to 3 ½ hours left shop before babysitting gig. I briskly walk to H&M—home to my favorite “mom” T shirt. The store is pack with people, most of them girls donning sorority shirts. Browse a bit and catch sight of very, very, very long line. That’s OK, I don’t have kids with me. No problem. Start grabbing things to try on and head for the dressing room. With each piece I think, “Where could I wear this? The playground? Soccer? Playdate? The zoo?” As I being to pile up my “yes” pile I realize almost all of it is stuff likely never to see the light of day. I decide on a few colorful flowy shirts and my basic “mom” Tees. Stand in line for 15 minutes.

You may be asking about money here. The downside to SAHM shopping excursions is the budget. Not that everyone doesn’t have a budget but A) I’m not bringing in money anymore—not until some publisher buys my book  and B) it’s not as if I have a million places I need to be outfitted for. My day consists of the gym, preschool dropout/pick up, writing in my basement, playing at the playground, going to a playdate and keeping my kids out of trouble. As much as I’d love to justify a pair of pumps for this gig, it ain’t going to happen.

Head upstairs to Gap, the mother of all mom clothing stores. Pick out a few more staples and some bras. Bras don’t count against my budget for new clothes right? Bras are like bread and milk surely. Mine are worn out after washing since I don’t handwash as I should Who has time? Keep moving. Look at watch and realize not only have I wasted lots of time waiting in lines for both checking out and the waiting rooms, but realize I’m tired of the mall noise. Need shoes. Walk a little ways and get waylaid by Banana Republic. Oh, gone are the days when I could shop here for my work wardrobe. Browse through looking longingly at silky shirts and dressy pants. I have a few in my closet already ready for the chance to wear somewhere, anywhere. Can’t justify these purchases (but how much I miss making them.) Move on and stop in at Ann Taylor. Again, it’s like torture to be back in this store—dresses, suits, fun skirts—wondering which of these won’t get me strange looks at Wolf Trap's Theatre in the Woods summer concert with the kids. But I find a pair of fun, funky flats on sale. Done. Ready to head home as I’m tired of waiting in lines, fighting the crowds and actually anxious to be back with my kids. They’re nicer than the mall rats.

Lessons learned: The only difference between a SAHM and WOHM's shopping excursion is the working moms get to buy cooler things! Lucky gals! And I seriously need to start shopping more online.

This is an original DC Metro Moms Post.

Linda also writes about her adventures with her two kids at Monkey Business.