some tasks are better done alone

Shopping for me (as in, when I go shopping) is entertaining.  For Alexander, it’s punishing.

My son needs some dress clothes. Brooks Brothers is having their semi-annual 30% off sale.  Last night we decide we’ll leave “early” this morning.

Alexander gets up around 9:15; this is a good sign.  But it takes him almost 90 minutes to get from his bed to a state of being ready. We get to Brooks Brothers at noon, hardly early.  But here, Alexander is enthusiastic and upbeat.  We get a pair of grey gabardine pants and a navy blazer.  The dress shirts are too big for his slim frame so we go next door to J Crew.

We’ve been shopping for over an hour now, and my son’s tolerance for this activity is waning.  His enthusiasm has been replaced with impatience.  At J Crew, Alexander tries on a few things.  We end up buying two pair of heavily discounted shorts, and a casual white shirt, not the dressy white shirt we had come for.   This is unfortunate, since my son is now incapable of continuing to shop.

We leave J Crew and find ourselves right in front of Saks.  “Let’s go in,” I suggest, “We’re right here.” “Absolutely not.  I can’t do this anymore.”  Alexander protests as if I’m asking him to do one more round of one-handed push-ups.  In the end, he complies, but with such visible misery it’s not worth the effort.

Next time we will shop for just the white dress shirt.  Or even better, I’ll go without him, and what doesn’t fit, he can return.