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Let's file this one under "Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time"...
A little background~ This morning I woke up with a cold/allergy/mystery illness. Let's just say the cough, (of the cough-gag variety AKA "productive") headache, and sore throat that has lingered for well over a week developed into something more. The kids woke me up at O-Dark-thirty by coming into my room shouting and crying. This woke me up as well as the baby by my side. (Whom I had just gotten back to sleep.) Apparently they were fighting over the middle 2 inches on the couch as one or the other had a body part over the invisible line that bisects the cushion. This led to kicking and arguing which led to the whining and crying. This is not the best way to start the day. It makes for a grumpy Momma.
I was sick, tired, and the kids were on my last nerve by 9am. I ended up calling M at work, which is something I try hard not to do unless it is that bad. Unfortunately, he was unable to talk to us. It is times like today when I really miss my family. I don't have anyone I can call to relieve me. My friends work or have transportation issues or homeschool too. It wasn't quite life-or-death. (Not quite...)
Anyway, about 3pm I decided we just had to get out of the house or else someone was going to lose her temper or her mind. (I'll give you 3 guesses who that would be.) So, I put the baby in her carseat which pops into the stroller and tell the kids we are going for a walk to the grocery store. I needed to get more Chex cereal for the Carmel Corn Snack Mix I have been making. (Yummy stuff- and Oh so addicting!!) M was almost out of yogurt for his breakfast and I thought it would be good excercise for us. (The store is 1/2 mile away.)
The kids conned me into allowing them to ride their scooters. We set off. The trip there wasn't a big deal. (Other than the baby screaming her head off the whole way. She hates the carseat and apparently not just in the car!) The sidewalk was a little crowded with the highschoolers returning home from the nearby high school, but no biggie.
Once we arrived at the grocery store, the baby decided it was time to up the volume a notch and pitch a full-blown fit. Everyone who passed by gave me a dirty look. Her cries echoed off of the concrete walls outside the store. At this point, we discovered that Lovey's scooter would not fold down!! We both tried for several minutes, but it was jammed.
So... I put both of their scooters & their helmets into a shopping cart. Lovey pushed that cart, I manuevered the stroller with Miss E in my arms, & into the store we went. It was after 3pm and it seemed that most of my fellow Save-Mart shoppers were moms with school aged kids in tow. Ironically, they all seemed to be dressed in some kind of "scrubs" or medical personnel attire. It looked like each of them was buying the ingredients for dinner. No one was in a good mood... at least not from what I could tell. Unless their faces were made that way. All pinched up. I doubt it though. They all seemed fresh out of grace too.
As my usual luck would have it, I ran into another homeschool mom I know. She was the only one with a calm, serene look to her. Of course, her kids were well-behaved. We started to chat. For about 36 seconds. That was the older kids cue to run off to explore the bouncy ball rack displayed at the front of the store. Lovey abandonded the shopping cart in the middle of the aisle. This displeased a couple of other shoppers. Great. My efforts to call them back in a calm, pleasant manner yielded no results... Oh Boy.
I managed to get the stroller and cart out of the way (one-armed with a fussy baby in the other). It was right about the time my cell phone rang. M was on the other line. I told him I was currently auditioning for the "Harried Mother in Save-Mart" commercial & I would call him back... Too bad they weren't looking for that part- I would have won it hands down.
We somehow managed to get the needed items into the cart and made it to the checkout. The line was long. Everyone seemed impatient. The kids started in asking for gum and attempted to dismantle the gum/candy rack. The baby continued to fuss. The "Calgon take me away" slogan ran through my head. Of course, the lady in front of me was talking on her phone as she dug in the bottom of her purse looking for 6 cents. Finally, I just pulled a nickel and penny from my wallet and handed it to the cashier. I was now just as impatient as the rest of the shoppers. She continued her conversation on the cell and handed me a dime. She had a dime the whole time?! This was no time for exact change, lady.
Because I found myself in a weak moment, I allowed the kids to pick out a candy bar. What was I thinking???? Lovey is notorious for her indecisiveness.
The walk home was more of the same. I had the baby in one arm, & one of the two bags of groceries on the other wrist that was trying to push the stroller. (I put one bag in the carseat.) The manufacturers of this stroller claim this model is easily maneuvered with one hand. Not so much. I guess I either a) Got the one "lemon" (Which serves me right for trying to save a few dollars by purchasing the clearanced floor model.) OR b) No one at Graco ever thought to test it with my kind of circumstances. I would be a good one to hire for the "Crash Test Dummy" role for certain products...
M had just pulled up in front of the house as we turned the corner. Apparently, he could hear the baby's cries from down the street. He came to rescue me. Thank the Lord. My sanity was hanging on by the thinnest thread.
Someone please remind me the next time I have a "good idea" of this nature that it is NOT.
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