A girl after my own heart….

On Saturday, I went out with just Ava for a little trip to Target and Barnes & Noble. Being my daughter, Ava spent about 30 minutes in Target trying on shoes. I didn’t coerce her into this activity. It’s just one of her favorite things to do. Remember, this is the girl who will wear every piece of jewelry she owns. At one time. So, the try-on-athon ended, and we were good girls, only purchasing one pair of shoes. They’re red and sparkly, and perfect to wear with her Minnie Mouse costume for Halloween.

(image not coming across too well, sorry).

Of course, Ava wants them to be more than just Halloween shoes. She wore them the rest of Saturday, and then wanted to wear them to church yesterday. I told her no three times. So she asked her dad. He said to ask me. Again, I said no. Here’s the thing: I’m pretty flexible about what she wears, now that she has opinions on the matter. Usually she makes pretty good choices. Sadly, she recently announced that she would no longer be wearing bows in her hair, only headbands. Her one concession was that she would wear bows to church. She knows that’s the one time I get to make the final call on wardrobe. And red sparkly shoes? Not church attire. So, upon my 3rd or 4th “no”, drama ensued. Big drama. The kind that involved kicking, screaming, refusing to put on the correct shoes. The grand finale was Ava hugging the red shoes to her chest yelling, “MINE! MINE!” It wasn’t pretty, folks. Not at all. So, despite wanting to scream, I calmly walked over to her, took the shoes, and said, “Not yours anymore.” The shoes then went into what we call “toy jail.” She must have asked for them back about 17,691 times. I said no each time. She did get them back this morning, and I think she understands why they were taken away. Let’s hope so.

The funny thing is, I couldn’t help but think of what would happen if I reacted like that over say, not getting to BUY the shoes I wanted. I was in a shoe store this morning (a nice one, with LOTS of shoes that I wanted), and I could sort of relate to Ava’s feelings of total despair over not being able to wear what she really wanted to wear. I mean, I think I saw no fewer than 6 pairs of shoes I wanted (because if Tory Burch is going to keep giving us new versions of the Reva flat, I’m going to have to keep buying them), along with a bag that I am dying over:

image courtesy of www.toryburch.com

I’m not kidding when I say this bag is perfect. PERFECT. You know how some bags look good but just don’t feel good? This bag is not one of those. It hits just right. It’s lightweight. And the leather. Oh. My. Gosh. So soft. So supple.

I digress. Bags and shoes make me do that. Anyway, I’ve been spending a little too much money lately (thanks to J.Crew and an upcoming anniversary trip for the husband and me), so I was only allowed to make purchases in my imagination today. And my imagination was quite active. Boots, wedges, flats. I wanted them all. And I wanted them NOW. So for a moment, I could relate to Ava’s dramatic insistence that she wear the red sparkly flats. Instead, I helped a friend choose new Revas, then headed on my merry way.

But I kind of had a little tantrum about it. In my mind.

Now, if I could just narrow down which shoes I’m going to need for fall…..