Riding like the big boy you are

We made our first big trip to the grocery store this morning, just the two of us. We have been before with Daddy and we've managed on our own for five items or less, but today was a first trip for weekly goodies. I know most moms have been to the grocery with their LO's for months by now, but I just didn't see any reason to drag you out, mess with your schedule, and risk mayhem in aisle six if we didn't have to. In the last few weeks though, your schedule has been such that we can swing an outing in the morning and afternoon. You are also so interested in new things, that we've started running out of things to explore in our house every day. That made me start thinking that going together might be worth doing. (Dare I say, it could be fun to show you the produce section?) As I prepared for this big step (to me anyway), I knew I wanted to get a shopping cart cover. You are definitely the kind of boy to eat the shopping cart. I considered taking you in your sling or carrier, but you are all hands these days. When we tried that on a trip with Dad, I couldn't carry anything without you trying to carry it too. Not to mention it was tough to check out stuff on the bottom shelves with an extra 20 pounds of you strapped to my front. Since I love a good deal, I decided our first trip should wait until I could do a little consignment shopping for a floppy seat. Our big consignment sales were last week and this week, so the timing was good. (I found yours for $10!)

This week we were all set. Since we are all three sick, and I have recovered the most, it seemed silly to ask your dad to go to the store after work. So, for the last 24 hours I have tried to prepare for the big outing. Yesterday I made the grocery list and tried to get organized. Your Dad and I talked about ways to get the cart cover on and you in the buggy by myself. I planned to park next to the buggy corral (which I would ordinarily avoid like the plague), get a cart from there, put the cover on the cart, then get you directly from the car seat into the cart. Piece of cake, right? My back up plan was to carry you in the sling into the store if I had to. This morning while you cried away your nap time, I resisted the urge to go coupon crazy. I decided to just grab a few. I also thought about grabbing the camera to document our trip, but heard your dad's voice telling me to keep things simple. In a last minute moment of clarity I found a You Tube video on putting the floppy seat onto the cart.

Finally, I thought we were ready to hit the road. I found you in your crib with the saddest face, wet from tears, drool and covered with cold goobers. After a quick clean up (which you protested loudly), we were out the door. We arrived at the store to find all the cart corrals empty. Fortunately the You Tube video made the cart cover look pretty easy. I decided to tackle it without the sling. With your diaper bag across my chest, you on my hip, and the cart cover in my other hand, we made it in the store. The cover went on just like in the video and I had you buckled in in under a minute. Of course you found the one part of the cart that wasn't covered to hold on to. You didn't like it at first, but once I showed you your toys and we started rolling, you decided it was ok. When I took a closer look at you I realized you looked like a ragamuffin. My face cleaning had not been as thorough as I thought. You had dried who-knows-what on your cheeks and in your eyebrows. Your curly hair was sticking out all over. I decided the cart cover was protecting future shoppers from you more than it was protecting you today.

You did really well in the store. Our list was fairly short; we were only there about 45 minutes. No fewer than 4 store employees tried to talk to you or get you to smile. Your poor sick, sleep deprived self wasn't interested. We did have fun in the produce section. You pointed to the nectarines like you wanted me to buy them, I showed you the bananas and bought them instead. On our last pass, I made race car sounds and sped around with the cart setting a very bad example. You loved it.

In the checkout aisle I was reminded of a friend of mine who talks about having to shield her children's eyes from the garbage there. I was grateful today that you couldn't read the headlines. Grateful too that you were too young to hit me up for candy that was mercifully out of reach. You did find a balloon to be of interest, but it was in another aisle. For once I accepted the help of the bag man who walked us to the car and returned the cart. We were on our way home.

Just think, I used to "just run to the store."