On Monday afternoons Charlotte, Sadie, and I usually go do the grocery shopping while Olivia is in gymnastics. Last week she finally nailed her standing backbend all by herself! I was so proud of her and she was pumped, to say the least. She came home from last week's practice and kept on practicing over and over until her arms slipped out from under her and she smacked her head on the floor.
I knew she'd try to weasel herself out of having to practice those today so I wanted to stay for her practice and watch. That way I could force her to practice them again. I decided to do the grocery shopping early today so it'd be done before gymnastics.
The whole time I tried to make my grocery list and get dressed, Sadie cried. Unless I held her. It was a difficult morning. I knew she was extremely tired but she would not give in to a nap so I was counting on the car ride to Walmart to do the trick. I switched out one more load of laundry while I herded the kids out the door, then I heard extra loud clopping coming from Charlotte's direction and realized she had on Rapunzel dress-up heels. I was {this} close to taking her to her room to change her shoes, but I thought Ehh, whatever. She's happy. And off to Walmart we went.
We always get the new buggy with the infant seat for Sadie at the top but none of those were outside. So to keep from it taking 10 years for us all to walk across the parking lot, I grabbed a regular buggy to put them in until we got inside. That was not the one she wanted, so Charlotte immediately started crying, waking Sadie up who had just fallen asleep.
When we got inside, Charlotte insisted on taking her princess heels off and riding on the end of the buggy. I actually like her riding on the end because it gives me more room for groceries. I didn't like her being barefoot but I thought as long as she stays on the buggy and doesn't get down, it's not that big of a deal. I'm trying to pick my battles here!
Our first stop was shampoo and immediately Charlotte got down and wanted to walk around. I told her she had two options:
1. Put your shoes back on and walk.
Or
2. Get back on the buggy and ride.
Looking back, I assume she was waiting on a third option because she didn't seem too enthralled about either. After repeating the options several times, she refused to do either so I picked her up and put her IN the buggy.
The horror.
Blood curdling screams soon followed and suddenly we were that family. Charlotte was that kid. And I was that Mom.
People were staring but I refused to back down. Never mind the fact that I was the one who allowed her to wear those dang princess shoes that don't even fit her... I was not giving in. And neither was she. And then I remembered what shirt I was wearing...
Yep.
I suddenly felt the urge to buy a hoodie from the ladies section and pull it over my shirt. And my head. Charlotte was still screaming and I felt like there were beams of light shining off my shirt. Radiating to the world that Mom life. Is the. Best life. Don't get me wrong, I really do think it is, and I wouldn't trade it for the world, but at that particular moment?? Oh, the irony! And I'm not sporting just a regular ol statement here... It's got three periods in it! THREE! Talk about emphasis! I really should've put more thought into buying this shirt!
Thankfully her fit didn't last much longer and I felt the light beams beginning to fade. We made it through the rest of our trip without any meltdowns and all was well. By the time we checked out, loaded all the kids in the car, unloaded all the groceries, and the kids were back at home playing happily in the living room, I propped my feet up and breathed a sigh of relief. Ahh... Mom life. Is the. Best life.
