Out of the house

Lately Janey is really wanting to be out of the house a good deal of the time. She gets very bored and antsy, and gives us subtle hints like bringing us her shoes, trying to open the doors and getting extremely thrilled at the suggestion of going someplace like the grocery store. Yesterday was the last day of Tony's vacation, and we hadn't done much, mainly due to a lack of funds. So yesterday we went out more, mainly to thrift stores. At night we decided to go to Savers, and took Janey. The place was pretty dead, due to it being rainy and a Monday night. Janey was happy, and showed it by laughing up a storm. You could hear her all through the store, loudly. She laughs in, well, a little bit crazy sounding way. And people noticed. One old biddy kept looking at her, and obviously wanting to say "What's wrong with HER?" Others just looked annoyed. I thought to myself---"Hey, you'd all like it a lot less if she were screaming!" And really---a 6 year old girl laughing? How much can that really bother anyone? Later I put her up in the carriage and we looked at tops together for her. She got her heart set on a ugly cheap plain blue top that was a girls size 16. She kept trying to put it on, and I kept trying to sneak it back on the rack. There was no explaining to her that it didn't fit, and it was, well, horrible. But the whole interchange between us was one of my favorite moments as her mother so far. It was so normal in a way---mother and daughter fighting over clothes. It was something I enjoy---clothes shopping at a thrift store, and something she enjoys too. We had some laughs together, and eventually I managed to distract her from the Wonder Shirt. I left the store feeling very happy, despite the odd looks. I hope I have a lot more times like that---our very own version of normal.