When it comes to kids fashion big shopping centres can be frowned upon: large chains, international brands, nothing unique. But for me after having a baby hitting up the big shopping centres were a god send, especially my favourite Chadstone. Why, I hear you asking? Well fret not, I will enlighten you with my 5 reasons I became a mall rat after having a baby:
- Parent rooms. They are pretty swish these days. You could basically just hang out in there all day if you wanted (which you don’t because hello there are so many amazing shops to be checked out). TV’s, games, soft cushions… oh and that’s just for the adults! Feeding rooms, microwaves, nappy stations… yep they are pretty decked out. And for a stressed out new mum sometimes the thought of whipping out the boob in the middle of a shopping centre is enough to make you hide at home so THANKYOU for (the politically correctly named) parents room
- Babies grow like CRAZY in the first few months and although I stocked up on an array of the wonderful and crazy baby shopping has to offer before he popped out, there is always something missing, something grown out of and something new needed
- The weather is always good in the shopping centre. Searing hot sun? Torrential rain? Fear not! No need to stay at home the bright lights and shiny shops of the mall are a-calling
- There are SO many good kids stores all in the one place. Now, I am a big fan of the local kids store, especially as this is where you are most likely to find the cutest, most unique, locally made goods….but Chaddy will give these little pockets of goodness a run for their money, simply due to the convenience factor of having everything all in the one spot. Seed, check. Bonds, check. Pure baby, check. Cotton on baby, check. Bardot Junior, check. Armani junior, check (but ahem, they are a bit out of our price range). Country Road, Gap, Zara, Pumpkin Patch, and then of course you have Myer, DJ’s, Target and Kmart…phew! If you don’t find what you need after visiting all of these bad boys maybe you’re looking for the wrong things!
- There was one other thing that worked a charm in those early few months as well… and that was the constant movement of the pram as I weaved between the shops being the perfect rocking motion to put Austin to sleep and keep him snoozing for a rejuvenating long nap…something that I really struggled to get him to do when he was little. Of course mister one year old is too grown up for that business now, but instead we can take him to the indoor playground before heading off so that he can tire himself for a snooze in the car. Or more accurately just stand awkwardly on the sidelines because he is too nervous to get in to the action just yet.
All this aside there is nothing worse than being lost in a big shopping centre, unable to find what you want and walking around in circles… so no matter if it’s chaddy or highpoint or your local centre, it’s probably a really good idea to make sure you go often so you get to know the centre inside out and reap the rewards of shopping up a storm.