One of Those Days

I would like to recount for your reading pleasure yet another cringe worthy episode in this mom’s life. This one happened just last Wednesday, a mere two days after the Wasp Incident. Like the Wasp Incident, I believe it is just another example of the kind of bizarre, impossible situations that moms often face...because we just don't have enough arms.

It was the sort of day that begins optimistically. The kind of day where everything goes so well, and runs so smoothly, that your inner mommy confidence rises to fever pitch and you think to yourself, I've got this. I finally know what I am doing.

Be careful of these days. They sometimes like to twist around and kick your butt. Or in my experience they do.

We had a good morning. My saint of a mother in law dropped by early to pick up Rylie for a grandma day, leaving me some mommy time with eleven month old Sophie.

And just for your information, my dear MIL takes one or both of the girls ONCE a week, nearly EVERY week, for the WHOLE day. Yes, I am eternally grateful to her for giving me these weekly sanity-saving days while I am living here in baby land. And no, you cannot borrow her. I share her with my sister in law and we keep her busy enough.

Back to the story.

So it’s just me and Sophie, who is a remarkably easy baby. Very laid back, not much of a crier, and a heck of a good sleeper. She requires only a full tummy and a nap to remain her sweet, good natured self. Thus, she’s the perfect baby for a shopping trip.I have a full agenda planned. I need to grocery shop, stop by the party supply store, and make my weekly pilgrimage to that most glorious of retail establishments, Target. But I hesitate to go. On the one hand, I need to take advantage of my toddler-less status and mark some things from my to-do list. On the other hand, the skies are looking pretty overcast and the weather report is calling for rain and thunderstorms.

I really do not like to get caught in this kind of weather when I am alone with the kids. It is a logistical nightmare. One or all of us will get wet. And the tedious loading and unloading of car seats and shopping bags and strollers…Well, I would just rather not have to do it all in foul weather. You understand, right?

Right?

Against my better judgment, I decide that my desperation to escape my house trumps my hesitation over the weather, and I make sure to add the umbrella to my humongous, multifunctional, mommy bag.

On the way to town I begin to think that we might get lucky and miss the rain. There is no precipitation, but there is the barest hint of sunshine. I make Target my first stop. When we get there, the cloudy skies finally begin to sprinkle, and by the time we make it inside, the bottom falls out. It is raining HARD.

No problem, I think. I have my umbrella, my hoodie, and a blanket to cover Sophie. We’ll be fine. I decide that if it is still bad after I complete my shopping we can hang out at the in-store Starbucks and wait for it to clear.

Two and a half hours later, shopping is finished, Starbucks consumed, Sophie is restless, and the rain is still coming down in sheets. The parking lot is inches deep in water and I am loath to haul myself, my cart full of bags, and my tired baby out into this down pour.

But I must, as Sophie can not wait it out any longer and it seems there is no end in sight. I personally could have sat in that Starbucks another hour, sipping some highly caffeinated, overpriced beverage and reading a book. But Sophie is fading fast and not content to nap in the shopping cart at the Target Café. Who can blame her?

I don my hoodie, sling the diaper bag across my body, and roll up my jeans. I slowly, carefully walk out the door, holding Sophie in my left arm and the umbrella in my left hand, pushing the cart with my one free hand. If you have not done this before, you should know that it is a difficult balancing act, especially in a strong wind and a hard rain.

Did I mention that I parked a very long distance from the entrance? Did I mention that I was wearing flip flops?

I make it to the car and I am pleasantly surprised because Sophie isn’t at all wet, and I am not too damp, except for my feet. I park the cart directly behind my car and turn to load Sophie in her car seat. I have not even snapped her in place when I look up, puzzled to find that my full cart is not where I left it.

Nope.

It is racing down the Target parking lot, a trail of rain water spraying out behind it.

I gasp. I curse. The cart is already more than halfway across the parking lot but I can’t just leave Sophie in the car alone while I chase it, so I sling her on my hip. Umbrella in hand, I begin trotting down the parking lot after the errant shopping cart, which is zooming unattended toward the Target entrance.

Please do not mow down a pedestrian, I pray. Please do not hit a car…or get hit by a car.

I pass not one, not two, but three men and one woman on my jog towards the cart. They turn their heads to see my rogue cart whiz by them, they turn again to watch me run after it, baby bouncing on my hip in the drenching rain. And they continue to watch our progress until the cart bumps into the curb, narrowly missing an innocent SUV. They do not offer to help, though they clearly witnessed my dilemma.

I am shocked and relieved to see that the cart did not hit anything more significant than the sidewalk. This is great news, as it not only traveled the full length of the parking lot, but then crossed the street in front of the entrance.

I finally catch up to the cart and begin the long trek back to the car. I am, once again, pushing that cart with one hand and balancing baby and umbrella with the other. I see a couple of those same men sitting smugly in their dry vehicles, watching me.

Sophie is none too happy at this turn of events, and audibly so.

I am tired. I am soaked. I am thinking, Did that really just happen?

I finally complete the long process of loading the car. The cart remains firmly in place this time. As I pull out of my parking space, the clouds part, the sun comes out, and the rain abruptly ceases.

We went straight home.

That night, after listening to my rant, Greg promised to always help frantic, baby-toting mothers chasing full shopping carts in the pouring rain.

And now a few pics, just because.