I would say that about 6 months ago, I insisted Alexander had begun the 'terrible twos' stage. Although he continued to be an angel in public, and for the sitter, we did have some meltdowns in the privacy of our own home. I really thought this would be no big deal, and the vast majority of the world would never even know about our little rotten one... and then he officially turned two.
The big two year birthday weekend was a busy one, with our b-day shopping/ice cream on Friday, party on Saturday, and then a family reunion on Sunday (with eating at 1:00, which happens to be nap time). Now, that was a jam packed weekend for me, and I'm quite a bit older than 2. They weekend went by without a hitch, even with our missed nap on Sunday. Monday started out just like any other Monday, and then I decided to go to the grocery.
I typically do my grocery shopping in the AM before Daniel heads to work, or late at night after he gets home. This particular day I thought I would just take the boys along, especially since we didn't need much.
First I must paint you a picture, because, while this seems quite normal to me these days, and I can't possibly be the only mom that does this, I do get some awkward looks. Imagine this... one cart, one toddler (in the front seat), one car seat (in the basket of the cart), and groceries piled UNDER the cart. Seems reasonable to me. Apparently I'm the only one trying this (although again, I can't be the only mom who takes two small children to the grocery alone... right?)
Our trip was going quite well, then we hit the cereal aisle (did I mention it was 7:30 PM? and Alex had missed his nap the day before?) Kellan was of course being the best baby ever (he is also not two yet) chewing away on a fabric octopus rattle. Bugman decided that he needed a box of cereal. We didn't need cereal, seeing as there are probably 7 boxes of cereal in our basement (they were on sale, OK). I calmly told him that we had cereal at home and it was not on our list today. (He is my 'helper' when we shop and holds our list.) I thought the matter was resolved, and we turned the corner to cruise the next aisle.
I was mistaken, wails of 'CEREAL, CEREAL' came screeching out of this child. No big deal, I'm sure by the end of the aisle, it will be fine. Again, I was mistaken. By the end of the next aisle the entire store is filled with shrieks, and screams from one little two year old boy. Then came the stares. Not the 'look at that crazy mom with food piled on the bottom of the cart' stares, but the 'it sounds like she must be beating her child' kind of stares. I had to make a decision, leave, or stay and finish (we were almost done at this point.) I decided to finish. This decision came at precisely the exact moment I saw blood trickling out of Bugman's nose. As if things couldn't get worse, I had no Kleenex in my purse. I took a deep breath, and asked another woman in the aisle if she had a Kleenex. She didn't. So there I stand, wiping my son's bloody nose on my shirt in the grocery store.
To make the rest of a long story short, we left with one more sippy cup that we don't need, and a little boy pretending there was something in it to drink.
This week, I'll be going to the grocery alone.
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