I took both children shopping by myself for the first time the other day. Lily had a first, too: it was her first time at Target where she got to walk around because she was "too poopy for the cart!" That really messed up my plan to have her sit in the cart and Walter ride in the ERGObaby carrier. He actually messed up that plan as well by being a little fussy and needing to be held in one arm facing out.
Things to remember about that:
1. Always bring at least one diaper for each kid. Toddlers need fewer changes, but the ones they need are much more important.
2. If you didn't bring any size three diapers, JUST BUY SOME. YOU'RE AT TARGET, FOR GOODNESS' SAKE. Get that poop changed now.
Obviously, I did neither of the above. Instead, I allowed Lily to walk. When Walter was happy, I could hold her hand and push the cart with one hand. When he wasn't, I had to hold him with one hand and push the cart with the other, constantly looking around to keep track of Lily and firmly saying "STOP" approximately every 45 seconds. Luckily, with her constant chatter and singing, it wasn't too difficult to know that she was nearby.
I learned something about myself. I'm not a quitter. (That's why I start so few things.) I knew I could just abandon the effort, forget most of the stuff on my list and get the heck out of there. But no, I had made the trip and gotten myself into this situation. I wasn't going to be satisfied leaving it half-finished. Besides, the store was not crowded, and though we were getting looks from other shoppers everywhere we went, I was too busy to even notice or care about what kind of looks they were.
I got everything on my list. Next was checkout. I had no choice but to plop Walter in the cart on a bed of jackets. He spaced out and fell asleep within minutes. D'oh Moment #1: I should have tried that much earlier.
At the checkout lane, Lily made her first personal request of the trip: she wanted a small carton of Goldfish snack crackers. I really was proud of her behavior, which was no worse than any well-behaved two-year-old, and so I acquiesced. I then used that snack as a bribe to get her into the cart for the journey back to the car. D'oh Moment #2: I should have tried THAT much earlier.
It could have been worse. It was actually hardest when we got home and everyone was poopy and overtired. For that reason I realized it would have been way better to go at 10am than 3pm. Walter is finally in that stage where he won't readily sleep through everything, and I really think he wanted to sleep through this. I'll be playing this over in my head for weeks before I'm ready to try it again, and by then everything will be different!
Just a suburban mom on the go.
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