Long Day

Some days are longer than others. Some have really long parts. Today was a long day with a long part. One of the things I dreaded about having two children was going to the store with them and without another adult. Today I ventured to Walmart for a couple grocery items, Father's Day item, and other stuff. As I went to get Claire out of the car I stepped in gum. If that wasn't enough of a sign to just go back home, I should have turned around when the pharmacy line was literally to the doors. I just thought I was lucky to not need drugs today.

We needed WD4o. I consider myself a modern woman, and I'm not intimidated by tools or repairs of any kind. This should make me capable of finding WD40. Oh no. Of course it would be by screws and picture hangers. Then there were two Father's Day items that I was certain would be at Walmart. I looked and looked to no avail. Then I decided that I could ask for help---if only someone spoke English. I gave up after a valiant effort.

Next it was time for the groceries. I started getting the baby food when Claire announced she needed to use the potty. She went before we left home, so I wasn't too worried. We got a few more things and she mentioned it again. Then we couldn't find beef bullion cubes or frozen hamburger patties. Then she said she really needed to go, so I bypassed the produce and breads and headed straight to checkout. The lines were horrendous. I got in what I assumed was the smallest line, only to find half-way into it that the woman three people in front of me was so large that she blocked the view of her very full cart. Then there was a lady next to us who had very obvious birthmarks. Claire told me very loudly, "Oh look! That MAN got hurt on his neck." This was repeated a couple times before I could distract her. And she never got the gender correct.

Next thing I know Kyle goes from sitting pleasantly to red-faced screaming. As it was almost my turn to load my items I was unsure of what to do. I got them all loaded while trying to calm him. Then the nice lady behind me asks if she could hold him with an explanation that her grandkids live far away. This was either true, he was being much more annoying than I thought, or maybe she just wanted to hold our cute boy (who really does have a cute pathetic cry).

By this point we've been in line twenty minutes. Claire keeps pulling things off the conveyor belt and chewing on them. My head hurts. It's like 90 degrees, and the lady in front of me can't decide if she wants to buy pillows after finding out their price. All the while I'm waiting for Claire to announce that she's had an accident. Kyle, by the way, is quite happy and gaining an audience of well-wishers. I offered to take him back, but she wouldn't give him back. I wasn't too sure what to do. When I was paying for my stuff I couldn't get Claire far enough away from the credit card thing to stop pushing buttons. She messed it up twice. We spent well over 25 minutes in line. Not fun.

I finally got everything loaded in, expressed gratitude to the baby holder, put Kyle in his chair, and now Claire says she doesn't need to use the bathroom, she wants to go sit on the big toy machines (she still hasn't figured out that putting money in them makes them way more fun). So we sat on Tigger, Mickey, and the spaceship. After some coaxing we loaded everyone in the car, fortunately avoiding the gum this time around. We got home, and I went to get Kyle only to find that I had never strapped him in (I'm admitting this only because Shannon admitted to making the same error more than once).

So that was our fun, fun trip which I will not repeat any time soon. Oh, and during dinner Claire pushed her booster seat off her chair and it broke an outlet cover. Good thing bedtime is in an hour (if I'm lucky!).