{must we eat}

Do you ever have one of 'those' days . . . you know pull your hair out, scream into a pillow, fight back the tears, can I just have some peace kind of days. I am there. It is Monday, and according to my 'summer schedule' It is the day to plan our two week menu and grocery shop. ~shudder~ Now I am not sure if your children react to the store like mine do but grocery shopping is WAY up there on my list of 'rather nots' right under cleaning toilets and taking out the diaper pail, I digress, anyway so today is shopping . . . I spent my early hours, after my morning jog, going through ads and scouring the grocery smarts website for deals I could not pass up. I then began planning my two week menu around those items that I found on sale and trying to figure out how many nights we could actually eat boneless ribs before we were totally sick of them (hey, for $1.19/lb you can get creative) after compiling my lists of toiletries, menu items, kids stuff, snacks, cleaning supplies, etc. into two looooong lists (one for Wal-mart and one for Lin's) I headed out armed with sippy cups, cookies, and toys (ones that hang to the cart with those linky things, because Thatcher is in that delightful stage of I throw it on the ground and then scream until Mommy picks it up and then laugh...ha ha... yeah the guy who invented those links deserves his millions, they have saved my sanity more than once!)
We arrive at Wal-mart and discover that the nice little carts with the double seats are G-O-N-E! Yes all of the other mothers out there with multiple kiddos have snatched them up.... great! So Aly is going to be WiLd and FREE while we shop, I should have remembered the sling, she is so much better contained she may scream a bit for her freedom but in the end things stay on their shelves and I don't end up sprinting after, her leaving Thatch in the cart, as I dart under clothes racks to apprehend my toddler (I know some of you are saying just spank her ... true it might just solve some misbehavior but I just can't do it). Moving on... I convince Miss Alyse to help me push the cart and her current 'job' is keeping her close, a little under foot, but close so I don't complain. We start on our list and are making great time. We pass about 3 mom's (and dad's) with the coveted double carts and ONE child! What! Are you kidding me you have ONE kid, put him the top of of a regular old cart and leave the few precious doubles for those of us who REALLY need them! But despite my coveting of the double carts Aly is doing really well until we get to the baby section, I need to get diapers and while I am perusing the diaper section debating on whether to move Thatch up to size 4's because his 3's are getting a bit snug or to keep him in 3's because you do get a more diapers for the same price and he might be able to make it a few more weeks.... Crap where is Aly? "Alyse Florence Sumens"
"Here Mom"
"Where?" Looking around but not seeing her . . .
"Here" . . . ahhh there . . . yes, in the 2 seconds I mentally debated diaper sizes Aly managed to run down the aisle and to the clothes racks where she proceeded to remove ALL the baby clothes from the bottom rungs and DUMP them on the floor!
We put the clothing back and then hurried through the rest of our list and to the checkout, Aly staying right by me and jabbering away to me about all of the things she was seeing and the people in the store, well behaved? My ALY in Walmart??? I was afraid to jinx it so I held back my compliments but I was internally gushing! What a sweet little girl and she is so cute just talking away and holding onto the cart, I am getting the hang of this and shopping isn't so bad ....
At the checkout Aly gets grabby and starts playing with the nice display of gift cards that they have hanging right within her grasp while I am preoccupied with unloading our grocery items. At this point Thatcher decides he is done with sitting in the grocery cart and is frustrated that his toys are not 'going' anywhere when he tries to throw them... he proceeds to scream. Amidst the screaming and the unloading of the groceries I notice the gift card frenzy and quickly distract by suggesting a fun new game ... 'Waiting on the Bench'. Yes directly across from our checkout line is a bench (near the customer service desk) I ask Aly if she can run to the bench, sit down, and make her feet swing back and forth? "Can you do that Sweetie? Are you BIG enough to get up on that big bench all by yourself?" She eats it up and runs to the bench. I hand Thatcher a sippy cup and it temporarily quiets the his 'get me out' screams. I pay for my groceries as I smile at Aly and tell her how big she is and what a great job she is doing swinging her feet, "look at how fast they are going your flip flops are barely hanging on, wow!"
She beams and says "I am AMAZING mommy huh!" Why yes babe you definitely are! We reach the van, unload our goods, and buckle into our seats... If only we were done, still one more store to go. Luckily Lin's has 'racecar' carts (which there were plenty of) and I have saved the homemade chocolate chip cookies as a special 'we are almost done treat' so all goes fairly smoothly .... best part of the day .... they BOTH fell asleep on the drive home! Oh and we will have food for the next two weeks which is always a plus. Mission Accomplished... Until June 15th!

Edited to add:
FYI shortly after finishing this post Aly (who had fallen back to sleep on the floor of her bedroom, strange but I was not about to complain) woke up and would not eat . . . I had lots of yummy food, all her favs so confusion set in. I began feeding Thatch, choosing to deal with the Aly situation after my son was fed. Then out of nowhere Aly starts vomiting all over the living room carpet. She looks at me with this dazed and confused expression as I jump up from my chair and usher her over to the tile floor hoping to eventually get her to the sink but tile is better than carpet, I'll take it. She continued to throw up off an on the rest of the night. Perfect ending to my day huh?

On a positive note the OJ & BBQ ribs, Fruit Salad, and French bread were super tasty for dinner and Daddy brought home some Sprite for my little girls upset tummy and I let her bring the extra crib mattress out in the living room to watch Tinkerbell, cuddles and movies always make you feel better right?