Tuesday, February 02, 2010

This and That

I always do my grocery shopping on Monday mornings. Two interesting things about the grocery store on Monday mornings: 1) it's rarely busy at that time and 2) I shop with the local retirment home folks. The bus drops off the elderly ladies and gentlemen just around the time Ethan and I get there and I assume it picks them up at a designated time later. Funny thing is, these people LOVE Ethan. They always talk to him. They also have a propensity to park their carts in the middle of the aisle, but they're so sweet when they finally realize it that it doesn't really matter.

A wonder of pregnancy...I have actually lost a couple of pounds but my pants (already) do not fit around the waist. Rubber bands to the rescue!

You veteran moms probably already know this (although no one told me!)...but most malls open their main doors at 9:00 am (or before) for mall-walkers, exercize groups, and others. None of the stores are open, of course, but the children's play area IS open and guess what? There's hardly anyone there! Ethan and I have historically not done the mall playground thing very much, but since he's gotten older and wants to go outside no matter what the temperature (and I hate being cold), we may be making a few more morning visits to our local mall for him to climb around.

I don't know about you, but I always like to hear what works for other parents in regards to their kids. I guess this doesn't apply to you if you don't have kids yet unless you just want to stock up on info. But, my friend, Mary, put together a fine list of parenting tips on her blog the other day. It is worth checking out.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

hmmm...i've been burned on that mall play area idea before. several different malls i have gone to early actually have a sign out saying the play area is CLOSED until the mall opens at 10. Perhaps they are cleaning it, although I've never actually seen people around doing anything. Maybe each mall is different in that regard.

Mary said...

Rachel!!! You aren't supposed to tell that secret! Now we won't be the only ones there at 9am! ;o)

Christina said...

The mall thing is funny. I remember those early mornings at the Galleria when I skated and then coached. At 5:45--TONS of mall walkers! I guess they figure if skaters can exercise at the crack of dawn in a mall, so can walkers!

The Axelson's said...

Rachel, this Mary's sister and I love going to the mall playground early in the morning. I used to work at Willowbend mall and I would see them wipe down the playground after closing, so if you go early in the morning there are less germs!!!

Lindsey said...

Hey Rachel! I LOVE reading your blog and I thought I should confess that I check it out often. We spend a lot of time at the Galleria ....we live right by Crowley Park in Richardson so when the weather is nice we basically live there, but in this cold weather we are running out of climbing options.

Emily Cade said...

Haha, although not a mom, I was totally aware of the mall opening early for mall walkers. When I was younger I would go with my mom and my grandma and we'd walk all over the mall. It was so much fun b/c it was like you had the mall to yourself. And then, when the mall did open, we'd get a Cinnabon...