We Are All ‘Target Mom,’ and That’s More Than OK
I was at Target with both my girls just the other day. After we’d gotten what was on our list, and several things that were NOT on the list, we headed to the car to load up. My oldest asked, “Mom, did you have Target when you were a kid?” Which is her backhanded way of pointing out that I am old. But it definitely got me thinking about the Target days of yore. I certainly don’t remember everyone’s favorite store being so popular. Sometime in the last 20 years or so, Target went from being at the bottom of the food chain of retailers, so the mecca it is now. They found a niche, filling the needs of millions of moms everywhere, and thus the Target Mom phenomenon was born. How did we end up here?!
If you’re a Target Mom, you know: it’s the happy place. It’s the place you can go for pretty much anything you need. You know you can take the kiddos there to just wander around and get free fruit.
And you know, you cannot enter a Target with a small list, and leave with nothing but what is on that list (at least, I can’t).
https://www.instagram.com/p/BeHOFV8jnhS/?hl=en&taken-by=target
Somewhere along the line, Target went from just a store to an unstoppable brand. They have huge social media followings across all platforms. If your friend posts a picture of some cute little knickknack, before you even ask where she got it, you know what she’s going to say. Their Target Style Instagram is full of some of the cutest clothes you can find. And when you’re a mom on a budget, you know you appreciate the prices! I’m not even ashamed to admit that 99% of my wardrobe comes from Target.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BeN-wRXHRfq/?hl=en&taken-by=targetstyle
Being a Target Mom is sort of like being a member of an exclusive club. You wander the aisles, and you pass mom after mom with her kids, and you exchange a quick glance and smile like, “I see you.”
With all the different aspects of parenting that tend to separate us, Target does the opposite: it brings us together. Just peruse the @TargetMoms insta for a few minutes. You have found your people.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bb6LBx-njDj/?hl=en&taken-by=targetmoms
If the girls and I are bored, we’ll head to Target. A couple of bucks on dollar spot stuff, a drink in my hand from Starbucks, and we’ve got a good hour of roaming and playing and just hanging out. I used to go to bars and clubs for fun, and now I go to Target. I also appreciate that Target hasn’t stayed apolitical; they protect breastfeeding mothers, they have all-gender restrooms, and they donate and support causes that are important to me personally. So I feel good about supporting the company, which isn’t always the case.
I am a Target Mom, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I just saw the cutest top while scrolling through IG for this article, and I need to go to my Target and find it in my size. Hope there’s a Cartwheel for it!
(Image: GIPHY / Target)
