Musings at Altitude

As is typical, when I get home from a week long trip, the first hour (never much longer than that) is spent in the obligatory hugs and histories.  My 14 year old wants me to know immediately the important things that have gone on in her life.  Since we got in so late last night, that “first hour home” was pushed off till this morning over breakfast. 

I was in the kitchen getting things together to cook some eggs.  My 14 year old comes in with her typically early morning too perky for life attitude (how many folks actually joyfully bounce like that in the morning?) and gives me a hug and in some bizarre twist of talking about wanting eggs to seeing her shoes, she runs back upstairs and comes back down with her new shoes. 

Just for quick background, while I was out in DC, my three girls (my wife, my last week of pregnancy oldest, and my entering high school youngest) went shopping…seemingly every single day…because the 14 year old is entering high school and thus must be decked out in the latest fashions…which now apparently includes shoes…lots of shoes…more than any human being needs in shoes.

It was a running joke all week long that every time we talked or texted she was out buying shoes.  She would typically end the dialogue with “jk” – just kidding – or “not really” or something like that.  So when she bounced back into the kitchen carrying 7 new pairs of shoes, I had to look at her mother with incredible disbelief.  Human beings don’t need that many shoes…that many shoes means that many combinations of clothes…that many shoes means that many more shoes that will only be worn once or twice a month getting virtually no return on whatever investment they incurred.

So while I cracked eggs, my 14 year old goes through her selections something like this – “here’s my new flip flops; here’s another pair of flip flops; here’s another pair of flip flops; here’s some new cool shoes; here’s some new pretty shoes; here’s…” 

I looked at her Mom and she was just smiling.  Earlier in the week when all this clothes shopping was occurring, I asked her Mom is she really buying that many shoes and her Mom assured me that we bought her two pairs and if she wanted more she’d have to buy them herself.  As my 14 year old was going through her weekly haul of new purchases, my incredibly old cash register in my brain was adding up the cost and coming to a level of required cash that had to be far more than the discretionary money my 14 year old would have.  So having this important data point, I looked at my wife and asked “who paid for these”?  She raised her eyebrow and said “I did”!  And that was that.

When it comes to girls, I have the sense of orbiting outside their existence and then anytime I enter that orbit I get confused or better termed bemused about what’s going on.  My wife was the most frugal person I ever knew – till our first child entered her teenage years.  My wife was the most practical and realistic person I ever knew – till our first child introduced the soon to arrive grandchild and then all practicality ceased to exist.  And now my youngest is entering her high school years and my wife still states her frugal and practical side before the buying begins and then becomes one of them once the door to the store opens and the three of them enter together.

As I sit here pondering this now, I realize how fortunate I am that I have other things to distract me (like business travel) and how lucky I am that the girls in my life enjoy stuff like this together.  But I also realize that times are changing – big time – with my youngest entering her high years.  I think I need to upgrade that cash register in my brain.

One final note – as I was cooking my eggs something stupid happened (can’t remember what – it was a half hour ago and well beyond my memory capacity) and my 14 year old popped off “GJ Dad”.  Thanks to the wonderful world of text messaging, she doesn’t talk in words anymore but only the acronyms.  GJ obviously means “great job”.  So not only do I have to put up with her new buying habits and show my excitement as she depletes our check book, but I also have to learn a new language that sometimes is as simple as GJ, but most of the time creates enormous mental strain to try and figure the words out.

I guess now I need to track my time at home this way – “I have two shopping days till I leave again” – oh the bliss of 37,000 feet.