I love to shop. I don’t know that I am a good shopper but I love it just the same. I’m certainly not trendy or stylish, nor do I have the funds to be so, but I enjoy rummaging through the racks to see what’s hot and what’s not. I suppose shopping is a love that runs deep, as I grew up being schlepped along on many a mall outing with my own mother and spent time rearranging the sales setups and point of purchase items while awaiting her reveal of the newest looks. Decking my sister and me in perfect pairings from head to toe was a love of my moms and thus, it is natural that I would be enamored by all things girl. I have been in malls in every city we’ve visited and feel like I have a pretty good handle on what makes a good shopping experience.
Before Barrett, I would do much of my perusing over the lunch hour and make my purchases on the weekends. Now that I stay home, much of my window shopping is performed during prime daytime hours during which I don’t have to deal with crowds of harried shoppers or fighting for parking spots. I’m certainly no expert on shopping but I will say, my feelings on such things have certainly been altered since bearing a babe. Shortly after having Barrett, I decided I’d get out of the house and make a trip to Oakview mall. All was well and good until it came time to give B the boob. I ended up sitting in some nasty, filthy chair in the dungeon that is the Dillards restroom. The chair sat directly across from the door and thus, each time someone swung open the entrance, I was blasting my breasts at the world. On subsequent trips, I found myself sitting on a toilet to feed him or returning to the car. So, for the majority of the first 6 months, Oakview was out. We live near Village Pointe and while I love the stores, an outdoor shopping center is only ideal so many months of the year {at least in a state with a winter wonderland} and the bathroom situation is subpar at VP. Westroads wins a few accolades with Von Maur’s attempts at taking tots into consideration but for a city who is revered for its favor to families, I’d say the shopping scene is somewhat lacking.
On a recent {very long} car trip to Chicago, Adam and I decided to stop at Jordan Creek Mall in West Des Moines. We were at a good stopping point to eat and feed and so we determined our one food stop should be at the Chick Fil A which resides in the food court at Jordan Creek. I had been to the mall before but had never quite understood its beauty on prior occasions. Before B, I rated a mall on its stores and whether or not it had an Auntie Anne’s but now, my rating system has drastically changed. And, at Jordan Creek, they seem to get this. Surely a woman designed this mother’s mecca for shopping. The food court looks less like a rundown carnival and more like a family friendly feasting frenzy. It’s clean, sparkly and has kid friendly areas. The selection of stores is fantastic and rather than hopping from one shopping center to another to fulfill your needs, it’s all in one place. And, of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t highlight the best part … the bathrooms. First of all, there are little chairs inside each stall to strap your child into while you pee. This is ingenious to me. I didn’t utilize one that evening but you’d better believe that if I lived there, I’d be using those live saver seats weekly. The changing areas are in a whole separate room off the bathroom and they have a huge sink and counter space just for babes. They also have separate family restrooms if necessary. And, my friends, the piece de resistance, there is a nursing room. I’m not talking a dirty-chair-beneath-flourescent-lights nursing room … this was a little separate room {actually marked nursing room} with a nice little ambient light and a soft chair.
So, I thought, apparently only Iowans get it… but then, we got to Chicago and on a visit to Ikea, I was further amazed by the family friendly environment. Another nursing room…baby food for sale in the cafeteria and a bottle warming station. For reals, folks. Now, I know that the entire world does not have to be family friendly. I do not expect Flemings or Omaha Prime to have crayons at the table or even a high chair on site nor would I anticipate that the Slowdown or my hair salon would have an interest in cleaning up my child’s puffs off the floor. I do, however, expect that if you are a place that says “Kids Eat Free” your waitstaff would not look at my child as if he has a parasite or if you have the forethought to put a kiddo play area in your establishment, I would expect that you have further thought out the details of having children in said establishment.
If you are a store that appeals to mothers as opposed to tween queens, then here are a few things to note. In order to shop, I need to be able to get into the store. If I have a stroller and you have a “pull open” door, I do not enjoy looking like a moron trying to fanagle the door and stroller in one fell swoop. Once I get this stroller into your store, I would love to be able to stroll. Strolling is strongly inhibited by clothing racks that are packed in like sardines {ironically, Carter’s is a major offender}. Lastly, here’s a little hint… if you don’t like my baby, I won’t like you. If you act like I am driving an empty stroller, I will leave your store with an empty bag.
While I’m on the topic of shopping, I would also like to add that I find it hilarious that they have stores devoted to months and months of maternity wear but what about postpartum threads? What about that awful period in which you hate your maternity clothes because, well, you’re no longer preggo but you can’t quite squeeze your newly formed muffin top into your old faves? After Barrett arrived, I found that though it had only been 8 months, I was so out of touch with what was in my standard stores. Who knew that it only took 8 months for the eighties to come back and the seventies to not be far behind?
I know it seems like as a mom, I’m asking for a lot and have a lot of demands… but come on, what man who designed the malls in Omaha has ever had a human inside of him for 9 months and then birthed it and fed it from his bosom? I say, fair question.
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