Weekend Shopping With A Lot of Thinking

It was the third Saturday of September when my mom, my son, and I went to Carcar City to purchase only one thing--a shower heater. My mom has been wanting to buy one to replace the old heater that broke down more than a year ago. I felt happy because I often take a warm bath in the morning but ever since our heater broke down, I had to heat a kettle of water every morning for my bath. I drive my motorcycle to and from work on weekdays and if I don't take a warm bath that day, I often get an upset stomach at work and sometimes, I even get back pain and cold sweat.

My son with his Nana 💜

Now my mother wants to buy one. I would've bought one myself but I've been putting it off since a new shower wasn't really on top of my priorities. I have been very cautious of my expenses for quite some time and a new shower heater is still quite expensive for me (our old one bought before the pandemic was around PHp 5000 or $88 based on the current exchange rate and this still excludes the installation fee).

I told my mother many times that I'd stick to heating water daily but my mother was adamant about buying a new one. Apart from wanting me to easily get my warm bath, she also wanted to take a warm shower daily especially now that she has retired from her job (finally, after 40 long years!). My mother requested that I go with her to help her choose.

Since we planned to only buy one thing that Saturday, we got on a bus at around 10:30 in the morning. Of course, I brought my son along since his nanny is off on weekends. Carcar City is only an hour away from town so we were really confident about getting there quickly. We also wanted to go back home as soon as we were done to avoid the heavy traffic that's been going on in Carcar City for quite some time.

We decided to have our lunch first upon arrival. We had our meal at McDonalds and gave a little bit of time to let my son enjoy the small play area there.

Afterwards, we went to Cebu Home and Builders Centre . It was my first time to visit a place like this and I thought about my dream of having our own home someday and buying stuff at a place like this one.

He grabbed a cart thinking we'll be shopping for tools. 😅

I found some sort of joy when we went inside. I looked around and there were a lot of things I wish I could buy someday. My son got even more excited. He is often into tools and stuff and seeing the "real" ones made him run here and there, asking what those tools were called and how does one use each. I got excited watching the chandeliers on display. I checked the price tags and sheesh--they're pricey! I also looked at the displays of floor tiles, sinks, mirrors, and other hardware and I can only gasp inside my head.😬

One of the lawn mowers displayed here was worth more than PHp 300,000 or more than $5295! 😵

Dear hubby, this one (someday) pleaseeee 😅🙏

Special moments with my son as we enjoyed "window shopping" 💜

We checked out the available shower heaters in the store and some of the staff explained to us some important details per brand. After several minutes of discussion, my mom decided to get the Electrolux Multipoint Heater. Seeing the price, I'd surely scratch my head but I was happy because my mom's the one paying hahaha lucky me!😊 There was an additional fee for the installation and an additional expense for the shower hose.

Mission Accomplished! Let's go home!
But NO! We suddenly wanted to "drop by" Super Metro- Carcar, a department store just across the street.🤣

I didn't have a lot of time to think about going there at first. I just told myself, I'm only going to buy some handkerchiefs (also handkerchieves) and my son's milk powder.

_{My mother chose this cart so my son could also enjoy "driving" while shopping. But gosh, pushing this was like exercising. I quickly took the cart from my mom.😂}

So how did it go?

I got my handkerchiefs, alright. I had a lot of thinking whether to buy this stuff and that. The on-going sale was really tempting. I had picked up several items and after thinking about whether I can put off buying each, I was able to put them back to their respective shelves. I kept thinking about my budget for that unexpected shopping and told myself countless times that I should not go beyond the limit that I have mentally set upon entering the store.

In the end, I got what I initially came for and also got a lipstick (I actually needed one!), a scar remover solution, undergarments, bedroom slippers and a toy basketball ring for my son, and some grocery items (mostly milk drinks, yogurt, bread, and biscuits). I didn't expect the bill to be that much and it was somehow a little over my intended expense. Still, it wasn't the "splurging" that I thought I would end up doing so I felt good about what I bought. It was also some kind of retail therapy, I guess. 😅

Special moments never go unnoticed.

The one who actually splurged was my mother but it was a beautiful and special splurging that she does not usually get to do. Now that she's in her retirement, she can finally have the time to buy whatever she wanted. I saw her taking quite some time at the bags section and it made me smile. My mother probably had a happy time choosing a bag she had wanted for a long time. She called me a few times asking for my opinion. I saw her cart and it was full of stuff that I felt she had been wanting to have. She also had some stuff for her grandkids, which melted my heart. (I wish I had taken pictures of that moment.)

Backstory. My mom certainly had a lot of struggles most especially when my father passed away in 2008. I was four months from graduating at the university when my father met his demise. My mother surely struggled a lot with this not only emotionally but also financially. I still had two younger siblings, one in college and the other one was graduating in high school. Life as the sole parent and provider must have been tough on her. I couldn't help much either as I was still on a contractual job after graduation and my pay wasn't that great either.

Now, I see her having a great time shopping. I wish she would have a lot of moments like this one. Buying stuff for herself and enjoying her retirement to the fullest. I want to see her enjoy life and not worry about expenses.

I had a lot of thoughts while walking around the store and glancing every now and then at my son and then, my mama. This moment may be simple to many, especially for those who didn't have to worry about money. But to me, a little shopping day like this one is special. Retail therapy, big or small, unexpectedly felt comforting and rewarding.

Now for the special surprise!
I went back to where my mother was picking out stuff when she suddenly asked me if I liked the bag she was holding. I said yes because it was indeed nice but when I checked the price tag, I winced since I haven't and still couldn't splurge on a bag right now. She said if I like it, she'd buy it for me! I hesitated thinking about how much she'd actually spend that day but I saw her excitement and I didn't want to spoil that. I asked her if she'd be okay with it. She said she wanted to buy me something as well. Yay! She also paid for the wallet I wanted to buy but quickly placed back to its shelf. Thanks Mama!😍💜

Thank you very much Mama!💜 She also got another bag set for my sister. 💜

We had some snacks and then we went to the cashier. My mother got some freebies and discounts! Yay! A kind staff also helped us on our way out and he didn't leave till we were able to board a bus. It was a tough ride back home as the bus was small. Still, I am thankful we were able to get home safe and sound. My son was so exhausted that he slept all the way home.

Yay! We can have warm baths again! The water gets too cold on early mornings here in our place. Thanks Mama!💜

That Saturday night, I had some time to think about a lot of things given our experience that day. There were instances I wished we had more than what we needed. But despite all these wishes and dreams of what could have been had we had more, I am very much grateful for the life that we have. I know we didn't live a lush life and we had moments when we had a lot of struggles but I believe our life had a lot of comfortable and special moments. 💜

Ah, this particular Saturday surely got me shopping and thinking. 😘😅

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Thank you Hive friends for reading. I hope we all get to enjoy our weekends.😊
This is my entry for the #weekend-engagement post for week # 173 posted by @galenkp. I hope you'll enjoy this post. 💜

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Note: All photos in this post are personally taken using my phone. I also used Paint 3D to insert some text in the photos.