Mom, Sarah, and I went shopping at Kohl's last night. I decided I needed some pants that weren't actually for work, and since I always used mom's Kohl's card (being too lazy to get my own), I had to wait for two things: A good sale, and both of us being available. As it turned out, that was last night. And also, coincidentally, Sarah had been needing a few things too. She needed a couple pairs of jeans also, and a jacket. I offered one condition: "Ok, if you're quick about it..." Granted, I really didn't have any say in the matter anyway, so, off we go.

Ok, I know, I'm 21 and shopping with my mom. In my defense, she hasn't actually been involved in deciding which clothes I pick out for a number of years, I just -really- didn't want to get the additional credit card required to save another 10% or so on all purchases. (Lousy forced-loyalty programs...)

Anyway, we got to the store, and I went off to find my pants while Sarah and Mom drift off toward ... whatever it's called. Juniors? Girls? Misses? 14-year-old-girl clothes? I took longer than usual this time. I wanted a couple pairs of jeans and cargo pants, and had to try them on, and all that. Normally, I would just take a guess based on the size of what I was wearing at the time and just find something that looked approximately OK, but for whatever reason, I decided to make sure they fit well enough this time. After maybe 15 minutes, I had found my new pants and proceeded to return to the Whatever-they-are section of the store to check on Mom and Sarah. Sure enough, they apparently hadn't moved since I left them.

Sarah and Mom had (sort of) selected a couple pairs of pants within a few minutes of my return. But where else had they been? She had a new shirt ... dress ... thing? After they were finished with the jeans, I followed them on what had to be the longest possible route to the jackets she wanted. Every dozen feet, something would catch Sarah's attention and we stopped to look at another rack of frilly, pink, or white items.

"Ooh, ooh, look at the [shirt things that I don't remember the name of]s! I want to buy one!"

"Mom, we need to come back tomorrow! There are so many clothes left unbought!"

The female shopping instinct. I simply do not understand it. That one would actually -want- to come back to a clothing store to purchase items that weren't absolutely needed is beyond my comprehension.

But, you know, it really wasn't all that bad. I spent most of the time making snarky comments about various items we passed, such as "Sarah, if you ever buy those mini-shorts, it will not end well for you," or "So this poster is telling us that if you buy this shirt, cool guys with skateboards and cars will go out with you." You know, practical, honest observations. It was like watching... well, a geek in a CPU store. If I ever find a good computer part store, I think I'll take Sarah along next time I need to buy something.

We did eventually find a suitable jacket for Sarah, and headed for the register. "Do you want a Kohl's card?" the cashier asked me. Hmm... be able to come back without accompaniment in the future? "Sure, why not."

Mom pointed out on the way home that this was probably the last time I'd be shopping for clothes with her or Sarah. Though it may have been entertaining to observe the shopping habits of a 14-year-old girl, independence is a wonderful thing.