Nothing like getting smacked around by your three-year-old in a busy parking lot…
Some days I just have very bad Mama judgement. Little Man has been cooped up all week with a bad cold and this rainy cold weather. So this morning for a treat we met a friend at his favorite coffee shop. It was great, he was great. We hung out, relaxed, and he enjoyed a giant peanut butter cookie. I forgot to watch the time and by the time he starts to get antsy, I realize it’s 12:45, we’ve had no lunch, and I still need to get to the store. Do I make the right choice, and go home for lunch?
No.
It’s cold, rainy and I don’t want to drag the boys in and out more then necessary. I make the Bad Mama decision and drag my hunrgy, sugared-up, getting-over-a-cold three year old to the grocery store. Clever, huh?
As soon as I got in thereI realized this was a bad decision but by then it’s too late. We manage to scramble through (thank god it was sample day!). I think I’m home free, but then Knittybaby wakes up to nurse, so then we’ve got to hang out for another 20 minutes. Little Man is barely hanging in there. Finally, it’s time to go. I put him in his car seat and he FREAKS. I’m trying to buckle him in and all he can do is scream, hit, slap, kick, etc. (like any normal hunrgy, sugared-up, getting-over-a-cold three year old would do.) And I’m feeling that the entire parking lot is giving me the “look” and I’m thinking to myself “but he’s really such a nice child and never hits me and I really am normally a very good mom!”……but, we all do it sometimes, it’s part of motherhood. We make a lousy decision that sets up trouble, but I guess it’s how we learn to be better parents. We’re all bound to have major in-public meltdowns, right? (Please tell me I’m right so I don’t get coal on Mother’s Day, I’m really hoping for yarn!)
My one saving grace was the fact that just prior to the meltdown, a super nice shopper offered to push my cart and put my bags in the trunk (she knew we were about to blow!) and told me she had 6 kids and knows what these days can be like. So, God bles ya, whoever you are. Your kindness kept me from losing it too!
Okay, enough of the saga…
OTK? I am a mere 16 inches of I cord and a washing machine (gee, what on earth could it be?) from having my mom’s Mother’s Day gift done. Hopefully tonight, if Knittybaby doesn’t have another gas attack, poor guy. Thank God I have an understanding mother! Pictures as soon as she gets it.
Hope to see some of you locals at Shepard’s Harvest tomorrow! I know Chris and Kate will be there, and Susan will be doing a Sheep to Shawl. It will be fun to finally meet some other bloggers. If you’re there, look for me. I’ll probably be the only one with a baby in a pink flowered sling. (I promise Little Man will be rested and well fed:-)
And since I probably won’t post again before then, Happy Mother’s Day! May you all have a nice lady help you with your groceries, or wherever else you may need it!
Knittymama 
I’ll be at SH tomorrow, too! Probably not until close to 1, though. I hope your big kid has a blast and your little one sleeps the whole time – that’s so much easier than the alternative…
Oh, what a kind person to help you out like that!! Hopefully you have a very quiet evening…
I will be looking for you! Don’t you hate “the look”? It’s always from older women whos children are now just giving them grandbabies, or from the childless. They don’t realize that an ordinarily good kid can have a complete meltdown any time they are over-stimulated, over-tired, over-sugared, etc. Once when mine was about 6 we were in line at Target and he was bouncing off the walls. I turned around and said, “John, for the next 10 miunutes you need to pretend you are a grown-up”. The older woman behind me, gasped and gave me “the look”. I felt like saying, “Listen lady, this kid can pretend he is on the moon, that he is a dog, a cowboy, a policman, for 10 minutes, he can pretend he is a damn grown-up!”
Glad someone gave you hand leaving the store! I’m pretty sure every mother (me included) has at least one of those days – and probably a few more as well!
Anyway, enjoy your mother’s day! =)
Just wanted to say ‘hi’ as your new ‘neighbor’ on the midwest knit bloggers ring! Hope you ended up having a good mother’s day 🙂
How frustrating. I am glad someone gave you a helping hand.
I couldn’t find your email address! Oh well, I learned Polish in college. I took it intensively for four years. Unfortunately much of it is slipping away.