You want me to what? The last time I shopped for a bra with my mother, I was 12.

My MIL has always told me that she’s finally got a daughter. I didn’t know she meant that literally until she called me the other day to ask me to help her find a bra.

Apparently, the shops in her rural town don’t provide an adequate selection. She could drive to the nearest city but she doesn’t like to drive in inclement weather. Yes, she lives near Rochester. Yes, there is snow on the ground from October through March.

So instead, she’d prefer to order a bra via mail order catalog. She has asked me to send her catalogs so she can peruse them.

I asked her what type of bra she prefers. This seemed logical. If I know what she likes, brand or type, I can save myself the embarrassment of sending the wrong type of catalog. “I don’t know. That’s why I want to browse a catalog or two.”

I’m not a prude and I’m not innocent enough to think that my MIL doesn’t have a libido or desire to be sexually attractive. I just don’t want to be the person sending her what a 9 year old boy would consider as ‘naughty’ pics. Those who know where my MIL lives and what she does will find this twice as amusing.

I just don’t want to be the one sending her salacious catalogs from Fredrick’s, Victoria or Agent Provocateur. Likewise, I don’t want to insult her by sending her an ad from the coupon section for those boulder holders with pockets to hold your keys and lipstick. I honestly don’t know if there is such a bra but I have seen bras advertised in the weekly coupon section of the newspaper.

So I did what any woman who is asked by her mother-in-law for assistance would do; I asked my husband to which my husband immediately shut his eyes, huddled into the fetal position and asked me to not speak of such things again.

Last night after some hemming and hawing, I decided to send her a catalog from Bra Smyth. They have a wide selection and a New York City store on Madison and 73rd so on the rare occasions she does come down here, she can go to an actual store to be fitted and altered, if necessary.

Does anyone else have a good suggestion for bra catalog to send to a mother-in-law?