We walked into the store–my son carried at my chest, and my toddler straggling behind. “Come on baby girl!” I tried to hurry her. She didn’t want to ride in the cart, she wanted to walk beside me… Or trail behind me, and browse for what she wanted.

“Can I have this number?” She asked me, with a large price-display number flip book in hand.

“No, put that back! Come on, we need to get mommy some shorts.”

I was hoping to make a quick stop. In and out. Grab some new running shorts and run out of there. But it’s never that easy anymore now that I have two kids in tow.

She set the numbers down, and grabbed a lawn chair pillow: “Can I buy this?”

I smiled at her desperation to grab anything and everything. Was I this sporadic when I was a kid?

I handed her some baby sunscreen–We could use some more of that. “Can you hold this for mommy?” I asked her. Favors are her weakness. She loves being helpful.

With pride she carried the sunscreen for me, and followed through the store. It wasn’t until I had already chosen a pair of shorts I didn’t try on, but hoped would fit, that she abandoned the item I asked her to carry.

“Mommy, can we get this?” She held up a shiny bottle of purple nail polish. We have a bag full of nail polish at home, but none of it purple, I was sure of that.  I sighed.

“Please?”

She knew my weakness.

“Ok, if you’re a good girl and stay with mommy in the store.”

“Ok mommy!” She promised.

She held on tight to her little treasure, and even offered to hold the sunscreen as well. When we reached the register she handed over the polish with glee.

Although she wanted desperately to paint her nails in the car, I told her we had to wait until we got home.

That evening, while her brother napped, I propped her on my lap and painted her toes.

“My hands too!” She told me when I finished on her piggies.

She sat still and watched as I carefully dabbed her itty bitty nails.

Her smile shown bright when I finished. Of course when her brother woke up he wanted his nails painted purple too. He told her so. So we added a bit of flair to a couple of his toes too. I didn’t see the need to tell her most people think nail polish and purple is just for girls. Her innocence will be crushed soon enough. For now, I soak in all of her pure childhood goodness, happiness, and love.Someday instead of asking me for a cheap bottle of nail polish, she’ll be begging me for a cell phone, or car keys. I’ll look at her hands and remember how they were once small enough to fit in the palm of mine, and the first time she begged me to paint her nails purple.

Tags: life's moments, memories, moments, purple nail polish