Toddler shopping

Last night my hubby and I met for dinner, perused the year-end report card of our son (BTW - it was outstanding and he passed Kindergarten with flying colours), and split off (each with one child in tow) to complete our respective errands for the upcoming long weekend camping trip. As the professional shopper in the family, I was nominated to get groceries, beer and gas - which sadly cost more than the beer and only slightly less than the groceries (but that is an entry for another time)!!!

So my three and a half year old daughter and I jumped in the truck after she gulped down half of a root beer - which is a special last day of school treat as pop does not make regular appearances in our fridge at home - and went on our merry way. We cranked up the Crazy Frog made our way to the local Superstore where we could make all three stops in one parking lot.

Now, I have to backtrack a wee and tell you that my husband and I had a conversation earlier in the day about the woes of shopping with a toddler - I said it takes twice as long to get finished and he said that he would take both kids but she would be sad for the entire time that I was gone (or at least the first five minutes) - so in the end I caved at the thought of those big hazel eyes tearing up and brought the little monkey along for a Superstore adventure.

Upon arrival in the Superstore complex of stops I filled up my gas guzzling SUV - which gave my tiny passenger enough time to doze off - and then I peeled her from her booster seat and attempted to sneak her into the child seat at the front of the shopping cart before she was aware enough to know that I was confining her to a place where it would be impossible to run freely. For the first 30 seconds or so she was completely content ... and then she opened her eyes and "re-negotiated" her position.

The funny thing about negotiating with a three year old is that they ALWAYS win. If you stick to your guns, they cry and repeatedly ask to do it their way until you are on the brink of certifiably insanity, and if you give in from the get-go the chase is on and you are left feeling a little defeated.

Now I have to say that my little monkey is a reasonably well-behaved child but no amount of parenting (or none that I have witnessed to this point) can prevent a three year old from being three. They are just curious, independent little people that cannot help but being on their own unique schedule. With that said, this innate understanding that I seem to have of the three year old psyche does not prevent me from occasionally being in a rush of my own and not taking time to fully appreciate the need for multiple trips to the washroom and "touch and smell" breaks in every aisle ... at every store.

In any case, we made it past the toy section and through the meat section with a relatively small number of extra stops and explanations of why we don't get a toy every time we leave the house and that we cannot, as a family, live purely on chocolate milk and donut holes. Then it happened, at the top of the condiment aisle another little person planted herself right smack in front of my cart and decided to take a self-imposed time out. Her poor mother had the instantly recognizable look of a supermom who was super-exhausted, and amidst my insistence that this was not a big deal I felt a calm wash over me because I was not alone. Toddlers everywhere were causing their mother's to look like panic-stricken maniacs in shopping centers all over and that is the way it was supposed to be. That mom would get through her shopping trip, and like me, she would go home and look in on her sleeping toddler later that night and be thankful for being so blessed.

My trip to Superstore did take twice as long as it would have had I gone on my own - and I will get frustrated the next time I'm sure - but sometimes it is good to reflect for a moment and just let them be little. Who is it hurting if you need to make an extra stop and spend some time looking at Dora the Explorer stuff? Or if you go to the washroom three times just to find out (and then confirm) what colour of soap they have in the dispenser that week?

My younger brother moved overseas this week and as the last of four kids to leave home it has rocked my parents' world. I was talking to my mom last night and she said - through her tears - that intellectually she knows that at 23 he was bound to leave sometime, but there had always been someone there besides her and my dad and this was going to be a hard transition. Time goes quickly, before I know it the Kindergarten graduation will be a high school graduation and shopping with my daughter will consist of me dropping her off at the front of the mall - so it probably wouldn't hurt to stop and enjoy the wonders of being a kid once in awhile. After all they aren't kids for very long.

And so it begins . . .

I am 32 have two beautiful (when they are sleeping) children, a husband of almost 10 years (also on his best behaviour when he is sleeping!!!) and a full time middle management position at a local College. During my "me time" - the 30 minutes to and from work on the bus each weekday - I decided that it would be fun to share a commentary of my secret life as a supermom with the world. This is a place where I will tell you about the books that I have read, the strategies - successful and otherwise - that I am using, crazy stories about life as a mom and the occasional recipe and random thought. Please feel free to post your own sanity secrets and random thoughts as often as you like. Being a mom is the most rewarding and difficult job that any of us will ever have so let's look at the position with some humour and compassion and help each other be the best moms we can be.