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My sister and I took our niece (who is 10) shopping on Saturday for her birthday. We went to the notorious Mall of America. It, surprisingly, doesn't have so many toy stores. I thought I remembered at least one or two, but the only one left is this crappy little "Toy Spot" that has a much poorer selection than the Target toy aisle. (There are the American Girl or Build-A-Bear money-suck stores, but their selection is very niche.)
There are, however, a surprisingly large number of products for the pre-teen market. I mean, holy cow. There was some stuff for us when we were kids, but not the loads and loads of specifically-targeted tween crap. There was a lot of stuff that had me saying, "Gosh, if I were 14 again, I would totally rock...[these rainbow monkey earmuffs, this ridiculous costume jewelry, hair chalk, sequin pop-art tops...etc.]."
I'm also here to inform you that after much research, we are living in 1989. Again. And kids don't even know it! My sister and I were all, "Oh, so I guess XYZ is back." (Jelly bracelets, snap bracelets, fluorescent everything, tie-dye, day-of-the-week earrings in little bright fruit shapes, etc.) The kids, they wear this stuff without a trace of irony or nostalgia--thinking that they are discovering the trend. It's adorable!
Sad moment: We were standing in front of a store with three cutouts of young musicians and a big Beatles poster. My niece excitedly pointed out that she knew all the cutouts: Justin Bieber and Somebody & Somebody (she knew, I don't remember) from a band called One Direction. We asked her if she knew the guys on the poster. She scoffed. "Ugh. No. They're really ugly though." Weep. Weep for our future.
She also pressed my sister and I for cousins. Mostly me, she acknowledged, because--as she said very gently and reassuringly, "It's okay...maybe you [my sister] will find someone for you by the time you're 40...." Cue me laughing hysterically. Cue my sister *dying* on the inside a little bit.
Our trip was nearly over, but we persuaded my niece to let us stop by IKEA. We weren't planning on being in there long because we thought she'd be terribly bored. We anticipated rushing quickly to the kids' section to see if they had anything she might like for her room and then getting out. We could not have predicted that we would spend 2 HOURS at IKEA because my niece did NOT want to leave. Why? What we did not foresee is that, because IKEA is set up like a house with rooms, kids view it as a big playhouse. We had to pretend-eat dinner in EVERY SINGLE IKEA kitchen. Do you know how many kitchens they have at IKEA? A lot. We also had to pretend to "faint" on every single couch and bed. Do you know how many couches and beds they have at IKEA? Good lord we were there for a long time.
She didn't end up spending all of her birthday money, but she did use her B&N giftcard to get books and got several other things she liked--so it was a successful trip. That, and I got to spend a whole day with my niece...and she's a pretty great kid who is turning into a pretty great tween/teen-person. It won't be very long before she doesn't want to hold our hands in the mall and hug us/cuddle us in public. I'm just going to savor this age for a while.
There are, however, a surprisingly large number of products for the pre-teen market. I mean, holy cow. There was some stuff for us when we were kids, but not the loads and loads of specifically-targeted tween crap. There was a lot of stuff that had me saying, "Gosh, if I were 14 again, I would totally rock...[these rainbow monkey earmuffs, this ridiculous costume jewelry, hair chalk, sequin pop-art tops...etc.]."
I'm also here to inform you that after much research, we are living in 1989. Again. And kids don't even know it! My sister and I were all, "Oh, so I guess XYZ is back." (Jelly bracelets, snap bracelets, fluorescent everything, tie-dye, day-of-the-week earrings in little bright fruit shapes, etc.) The kids, they wear this stuff without a trace of irony or nostalgia--thinking that they are discovering the trend. It's adorable!
Sad moment: We were standing in front of a store with three cutouts of young musicians and a big Beatles poster. My niece excitedly pointed out that she knew all the cutouts: Justin Bieber and Somebody & Somebody (she knew, I don't remember) from a band called One Direction. We asked her if she knew the guys on the poster. She scoffed. "Ugh. No. They're really ugly though." Weep. Weep for our future.
She also pressed my sister and I for cousins. Mostly me, she acknowledged, because--as she said very gently and reassuringly, "It's okay...maybe you [my sister] will find someone for you by the time you're 40...." Cue me laughing hysterically. Cue my sister *dying* on the inside a little bit.
Our trip was nearly over, but we persuaded my niece to let us stop by IKEA. We weren't planning on being in there long because we thought she'd be terribly bored. We anticipated rushing quickly to the kids' section to see if they had anything she might like for her room and then getting out. We could not have predicted that we would spend 2 HOURS at IKEA because my niece did NOT want to leave. Why? What we did not foresee is that, because IKEA is set up like a house with rooms, kids view it as a big playhouse. We had to pretend-eat dinner in EVERY SINGLE IKEA kitchen. Do you know how many kitchens they have at IKEA? A lot. We also had to pretend to "faint" on every single couch and bed. Do you know how many couches and beds they have at IKEA? Good lord we were there for a long time.
She didn't end up spending all of her birthday money, but she did use her B&N giftcard to get books and got several other things she liked--so it was a successful trip. That, and I got to spend a whole day with my niece...and she's a pretty great kid who is turning into a pretty great tween/teen-person. It won't be very long before she doesn't want to hold our hands in the mall and hug us/cuddle us in public. I'm just going to savor this age for a while.
