“Don’t forget, we have to go shopping for Ms. Hernandez,” Rose reminded me when I dropped her off at my mom’s house yesterday.

“Thanks for the reminder. I would have forgotten. Remind me again after school,” I tell her as I hug her one last time, my affectionate kid.

Later, we drop Adi off at soccer and set out on our date, operation teacher birthday gift shopping. “Want to go to Target?” I ask. Rose’s original plan was flowers and chocolate, but perhaps we’d see something she might like at Target. Plus, who doesn’t love a good stroll around Target. As we walk hand and hand into the store, I ask Rose, “What else does Ms. Hernandez like?”

Rose’s thinking face emerges. “Coffee? Maybe we can get her a mug.”

“Teachers get a lot of mugs,” I say.

As we enter the store, Rose spots a spinning rack of jewelry. Her eyes light up. “Maybe we can get her some jewelry.” Rose is my fashionista. We head for the accessory department. It’s our lucky day. Everything is 40% off.

Rose wanders around, petting various necklaces and hairbows. She stops in front of a display. I know immediately where her mind is going. The display is full of fruit-themed accessories. The theme of Rose’s classroom is “A Fruity Bunch.” We hem and haw over different options. Rose clutches a necklace to her chest, various fruit gems dangle off of multiple layers of chains. I think we’ve got it. “Well, Ms. Hernandez never wears necklaces…” We put the necklace back and circle the display.

Rose holds up a set of hair clips, a cherry and a lemon. “But she does wear hairclips.” We add the clips to the cart. “She also wears fruit earrings,” she says as she eyes a small box of tiny studs in the shape of fruit. I give her a small nod and she adds the earrings to the cart.

Then, we move to the candy aisle. “She likes caramel candies,” Rose says. I show her a bag of caramel candy but Rose opts for a bag of pink Lindt chocolates…they’re much more aesthetically appealing than the caramels I had picked out.

We make one more stop at the gift bag aisle where Rose chooses a bag with the words, “Just for you,” written across the front. As we wait in line, Rose shares ideas for the card she plans to make.

This was just what this day called for, a leisurely stroll through Target, finding the perfect gift for a special teacher.