I am surfing the net while the kids watch dvd’s of Land of the Lost. yeah Yeah…..the tv is their babysitter. Adam had preschool this am and Nana and I ‘helped’ Caity at her Intro to Preschool Sports at the local community centre….we have been active enough.
Anyway…..I was checking in on Southern Mom of 2, and once again she shares the ‘joy’ of being a mom and what a simple errand run can do to us…..
It is crazy…we worry sooo much about the impact we and our angels have on whatever establishment we are planning on hitting.
Even when I have just Caity with me, it is a running dialog with her the whole time, basically begging her to not freak out.
I remember trying to find an outfit for a wedding last spring with Caity wedged into the tiny change room with me and screaming the whole time while I grimly yet determinedly tried on those damm outfits if it was going to kill me.
A while back, I got a bee in my bonnet about buying this little folding tables that they had at Zellers. I reeeeeeeelly wanted them. So I packed up the kids and off we went…I don’t think Crunchy Husband was even awake yet.
The parkade is thankfully quiet and I manage to find a spot near the elevator and wondrously they have shopping carts RIGHT THERE!
So, in goes Caity into the little seat and Adam is deposited in the cart itself. Â This keeps them both happy and contained…..for now.
On the way to the furniture section I spot towels. I have also had a bee in my bonnet about getting ‘nice’ towels for the bathroom.  They had FISH one’s. They also have a nice FISH shower curtain. The kids like fish and we need a new curtain.
In they go into the cart.
Oh and there are some cleaning products that we needed too.
In they go with Adam.
We finally make it to the furniture section. YAY, they have the tables. I carefully stack three of them around Adam. He couldn’t get out of the cart if he wanted to!
Feeling victorious we start to head to the checkout
“Moooom I gotta pee.”
Sigh.
Of course you do.  In this store, the only washroom is upstairs…..why???? So find the elevator and up we go. Adam clutching his pee pee the entire time. Get up to the washrooms. They don’t have a family one and the cart wouldn’t fit anyway. What on earth am I supposed to do with a toddler, a full shopping cart and a bursting preschooler???
I rush in and check the ladies room. All quiet. I park in front of the door and send Adam in with the instruction to HURRY and I prop the door open and watch him go.
Thankfully nobody needed the washroom while we were there.
Seriously….every time a parent ventures out with their children and NO other adult in tow, they should play the mission impossible music. People have no idea what a simple errand can entail in brainpower, panic and creativity. Between bribing the kids to behave, planning out the quickest and safest route to said errands, and making sure you don’t piss people off or crash into them…..there is SOOO much going on in a mother’s brain all at once.
No wonder we collapse in exhaustion at the end of a 30 minute trip to the mall!
Oh and you ALWAYS forget one key item too.
You said it. We just had another run in while trying to get ice cream. I wont bored people with the details and I think the meds I am on are doing a number on my mood.
I swear we go crazy cooped up in the house all day and then cause ourselves much grief when we go out. I think I will just give up. I will claim from every rooftop that, “Yes these are my little wolves and we are going to piss on your parade.” Sadly, my Southern upbringing will not allow this.
I love the title of your blog. How about cruncy AND spotted? That’s my carpet!
And I love your description of a trip out. Gol, it is so hard!! Been there. Constantly.
Oh yeah.. I remember those days! My two youngest were 18 months apart! My son got buried beneath groceries quite a few times 🙂
Hahahaha…that is sooo my time with my little noes when I actually take them with me. AND rememeber I don’t have a car…how bout the bus anyone?
I thought this would be leading up to: and then someone took the table out of the cart while we were in the bathroom.
Last time I had to ‘go’ at a big box store and parked my cart – when I got back out, half my stuff was gone!
So, see it coulda been worse!
Have a great weekend!
I laugh… because it is so, so true! I actually got to go get my daughter some new socks and panties today without her. I cannot believe how FAST I got in and out of that store – AND ended up with some socks, a dress, 2 3- packs of panties, a shirt, some shorts and some new flip flops! I swear it only took me like, 15 minutes. If she’d been with me – 2 hours. Seriously.
I am having a baby in June. Is it really like that every single time? Is being a hermit an option?
So true about getting out with the kids! Although after reading that your kids were watching Land of the Lost (so awesome!), the rest of your post was just like “words, words, words” to me. I want to come over and watch too.