All aboard

So D and I took the kids to this mall in my hometown that has been there forever. I used to go there in sixth grade, when there was still an Ann & Hope. Now all the stores are different, except Marshall's, which keeps on hanging in there. We went there primarily to get dinner for E at Panera (mac and cheese and blueberry yogurt) but then E spotted a train with small but usable cars near Claire's. The conductor was a friendly high school or college kid decked out in a classic conductor's uniform with a little red bandanna and pinstriped overalls. He took us and a few other people with children zipping around the mall. When the ride was over, I said in disappointed tones, "Oh, it's over." The conductor said, "I hear that a lot." Then we all got a lollipop.

I got a kick out of this because a) it was something new happening at this comfortable, familiar, yet rather banal mall, and b) because I had actually been there earlier that day to buy some clothes at Old Navy and did not even see the train, and if I had, I might have just thought it was decoration. It is fun to see the world through a child's eyes.

Comments

judy in ky said…
Recently, I have seen those trains in malls here in Kentucky, and in California... must be a new thing. You're right, it is fun to see things through a child's eyes... did Z go on the train too?
5:58 PM
Bearette said…
Z did go on the train :) She fussed a little, but not too much. I think she enjoyed it.
6:45 PM
rachel said…
Totally agree about seeing the world through a child's eyes. Sort of reminds me of a rainy kind of dull gray spring day last year when I was taking a walk w/ my toddler. He leaned over a puddle and exclaimed with glee "a snake!" - it was a worm, but still, the excitement over such a small thing. We studied it for quite a while. Like this little vignette and made me laugh about how Marshalls is still kicking up the dust.
7:40 PM
Bearette said…
I can see W being delighted by the "snake" :) D was obsessed with Marshall's for a while, he liked the "shoppertunities"
7:00 AM
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