We were sitting at lunch with a couple of friends this afternoon and the boys were behaving so well. I even remember swelling with pride and thinking how fun it is when we can all eat a nice lunch together. Then Little N starts spitting. And then throws something across the table that hits sweet hubby. And then raising his voice. These are toddler behaviors, they are not new, they can be dealt with quickly and quietly. But then he doesn't correct when I remind him of our manners. This defiance is what really wears me down! I know it is also part of the wonderful age of two. Big B picks up on the action and sees I have my hands full with brother. He corrects himself quickly because he has moved on from the "asserting his independence AT ALL COSTS" phase. Lunch is over...next on our list is grocery store.
Nice car ride to the store with promises of "special treats" for good behavior. We are all on board! Maybe our day has turned around? But alas...there are no double seater carts which means one boy has to walk. Maybe I should have turned around, gotten back in the car and drove right home. But alas...I opt for Big B to walk and I take my chances.
For as much energy as Big B has I have never seen him walk so slowly! He wants to look and touch each item we pass. New rule-Hands on the cart! Okay...rule amendment- Hands cannot be on the front of the cart so mommy does not run you over. While browsing the baby section for clearance items ( Another mistake right there! Veterans know in and out with kids! IN and OUT!) mommy indeed runs Big B over. Mommy-" What were you doing?! I didn't see you?!". Big B-" Getting my shoe. It fell off.". All the while he is shrieking as if his entire foot fell off with it. One friendly employee comes over and asks if we're okay. "Yes, thank you." All the while another not-so-friendly employee is glaring at us-she may have seen me hit my own child with the cart. Then a second! employee asks if we are okay. "Yes, thank you". Throw the shoe in the cart and keep moving away from the staring employee.
We pass the dollar section where we find our special treats. Big B's foot is miraculously better and I spy a teacher section. I start looking and plucking to fill in the gaps for my classroom and let the boys go to town finding their treat. Seconds later I look up to see the boys throwing balls willy nilly around the aisle and their arms are full of special treats. As we clean up, choose one item each and start making our way to the check out I begin to see the scene from an onlookers eyes. After B is almost hit by a second cart (not me) because of the slow rate at which he is traveling, I can clearly see a small boy with one shoe who was just hit by a cart (by his own mother), made a mess of the dollar section because no one was paying attention to him, and left to trail behind his mother to the check out. In my defense there were only 2 lanes open and they were filling up quickly. What a sad scene. What a mishap of a day.
I have currently gone into their room 3 times to remind them it is nap time all to no avail. I can hear them playing again. I reckon I will have to waltz back in there and give it one more go before I give up on naps completely. I reckon we ought to scrap the whole day and try again tomorrow.
