Adventures in Parenting

X Shopping X

With an exhausted exhale, Kagome squeezed her eyes shut and pushed her hair away from her face. Her clothes felt too tight, too suffocating. It wasn't worth it. Why was she even he –

"Mama." Tiny hands tugged at the hem of her shirt, insistent in capturing her attention. She almost felt like ignoring the child chanting her name… quite loudly, in fact. "Mama, Mama, Mama, Mama, Mama, Mama, Mama, Ma –"

"What, Shiro?" she snapped, her eyes bursting open in a flash of harsh light and she turning to her son.

She hadn't meant to be so abrasive in her tone, but it was a very bad day and she hadn't slept very well the night before and –

This was getting her nowhere. Right now, her five-year-old son was on the verge of tears in the middle of a department store because she'd just yelled at him… and people were beginning to stare. God, they probably thought she was the worst mother in history now…

Shaking her head slightly, she pressed two fingers to her temple and knelt on the carpeted floor in front of her son. "Listen, sweetie," she whispered gently, knowing he would hear every word. She held his hand, grabbing his attention so he'd look at her instead of his Power Ranger sneakers. "Mama's having a really tough day and she's very sorry she took it out on you. Are you okay?"

The kindergartener nodded slightly, rubbing at his eyes with his tiny fists. He sniffled and glanced up at her hesitantly, a pout dimpling his chin. Kagome giggled softly and ruffled his bangs, almost hiccupping from her own tears choking up her throat.

"Now," she said resolvedly as she stood up, his hand still cradled in hers. "What'd you want to ask me?"

Shiro flashed her a sheepish look before holding up a red Power Ranger action figure. Kagome sighed and grimaced out a small smile. Shit. They were supposed to be shopping for school clothes, not new toys. And she really didn't have that much money to begin with… But she'd snapped at him and nearly made him cry…

Nodding her head reluctantly, she watched as he cheered and tossed the glossy plastic toy in the cart. There went the money she was going to spend on nicer new clothes for him… 'Well, I guess we're going to the sales rack…' she thought, attempting to be cheerful.

Shiro grinned up at her as he hung off the side of the cart with one hand, looking like a little monkey. Shaking her head with a small smile, she took hold of his hand once more. "Come on, Monkey Man. We've got more shopping to do."

Shiro merely grimaced in return and followed after his mother as she led them to the clearance racks on the other side of the store. Shopping was a girly thing to do. He hated it.

And there we have it. Installment number one. Hope you all enjoyed it. There's not much for me to say… I'm trying something new though. All the "chapters" are going to be little snippets of the whole in the life of a single mother and her son. So it's not like my other pieces. Until next time! – Hope Swings

Disclaimer: I officially disclaim all characters and copyrighted material mentioned or used in all installments of "Adventures in Parenting."