12th July 2009

A Trip to the Mall - With the Baby & Without A Cell Phone

Today, I felt the need to get out for a few hours.  Laundry, work, taking care of Melina, staring at my dog and cats - it was all getting to be a bit much.  I felt the need to get Melina out and about.  Honestly, even if it wasn’t for Melina, I wanted to get out for some fresh air. 

Melina and I headed for a stroll at Easton Mall today.  I wasn’t sure where my cell phone was, and I decided we’d venture out without a phone as an attachment.  How often do you venture out without a cell phone?  I know you might say, but what if something happens?  Well, as you’ll see from the entry below, if something does happen at a Mall - you’ll have more people than ever taking pictures, video and making calls, texting, Twittering - you name it - because people are “MARRIED” to their cell phones.

I was relieved to be without it personally, for an afternoon.  When you venture out without a cell phone, you take everything around you in, you breathe, you notice things you’ve not managed to notice in a while.  Like the fact that way too many people are on their cell phones, at a mall.  The mall itself used to be the entertainment.  Now, you see people parked outside stores, leaning up against the walls, with their heads down, noses pointed at their cell phones.  Their texting - very few people are actually talking to anyone.  I noticed fathers - with their children - no wives, no mothers in sight.  And the fathers?  What were the single for the day fathers doing?  Talking on their cell phones and texting, while the child was nearby, complaining, begging for attention.  I did not notice one mother with her child, on a cell phone, talking or texting.

How often do we venture out without a cell phone?  Take a drive without talking on the phone? Take a few hours to just focus on your child, your baby? 

So here’s what I got to enjoy today, because I was focused on Melina and nothing else:

1) Lots of babies everywhere, stollers, and people out for a Sunday afternoon walk

2) Singletons - were hanging out, texting or talking on their cell phones

3) Few people seemed to be buying all that much - it was more “shopping” than buying

4) Prices were the same, it seemed.  Don’t retailers know we’re in a deep recession and our disposable income no longer exists?

5) I had a psychic moment - thought of someone I hadn’t seen in a while and wondered if we’d hug or debate if we ever ran into each other - and minutes later, I found myself at Macy’s Starbucks.  I ran into a friend here that I had not seen in likely two years?  It was great to see her - we hugged - she met Melina and it was so very good to exchange a few kind words.  I had no idea she worked there.

6) I stopped to enjoy a sandwich at Panera - and watched Melina kick and get very excited about a bottle of formula.  She giggled, cackled, and delighted in Mommy’s 100% attention on her. 

Cash outlay - some gas, an iced coffee, and a frontega chicken sandwich - probably $15 total. 

Uninterrupted time with my daughter with my 100% attention on her, and seeing her 100% happiness = priceless

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