The wonderful world of toddlers

Just a small glimpse into what life with a toddler is all about:

The seemingly innocent grocery store trip.  Most of the time I go on the weekends or when Emma is in school (i.e. by myself).  There is something so calming about that liesurely stroll through the isles, checking out new products, reading the nutritional labels, comparing prices...

However, having to go when I've got a toddler in tow, it's a completely different experience.  Today was a fine example...

It all started with the "kiddy" cart.  You know the ones with the little cars attached to them.  You strap the kid in and they can pretend to steer while you buzz down the isles.  Never mind that the damn thing is as big as a Buick and steers about like the Titanic.  But hey, if it keeps her happy, then I'm all for it.  And it did manage to intrigue her curiosity... for about 10 minutes anyways.

Thanks to a few recent trips to Lowe's with Daddy, Emma has now learned that she doesn't have to stay in the cart.  She can get out and run up & down isles, pull things off the selves, talk to complete strangers, just pretty much act like she's in an indoor playground.  This wouldn't really bother me if I only had to get a few things and was just making a quick trip.  However, today was a "two sheet-er" grocery list, not to mention I'm in a new store where I haven't figured out where everything is, so I didn't really have the time to stop a toddler from climbing the shelves like they're a jungle gym, on top of trying to make sure she wasn't kid-napped by that illusive "boogey man".

So needless to say, a temper tantrum ensued once I told her, "No, you can not get out of your seat."  Thus began the relentless screaming, stopping only to inject repeated versions of this:

 

So I hurry through my list, try to "nicely" push my Titanic-sized cart through all the lil old ladies buying their Thanksgiving goodies, all the while trying to calm a 2 y.o. thats screaming like a banshee.  The looks I was getting were relentless, so much that I just stop making eye contact.  Head down, eye on the prize.

The check out line did provide some relief, found one that was open with no waiting.  The eager young teenage boy who is out of school this week and trying to earn an extra buck upheld his end of the deal and made some small talk with Emma.  This provided long enough time for me to make sure I used the right credit card, those bananas rang up on sale, that's good.  Whew, the blood pressure was starting to subside.

Finally make it out to the car, find my inner Incredible Hulk and pick up like 14 bags at one time and hurl them in the car.  Now comes the sweet, sweet serenity of granting the child the one thing she has been begging for for the last hour.

"Ok Emma, let's get out of your seat!"

Brows furrow, chin drops, hands on hips...

"NOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

Obscenities flow through my brain at such rapid fire that even if I wanted to voice them it wouldn't have came out as anything legible.

Home is where the heart is

I certainly don't think of myself as being "well-traveled".  Never made that trip out west like I've always wanted, never been to NYC, to Europe?  I wish.  But I definitely feel I've had lots of addresses within the last ten years.  There were the five addresses in my four year stay in Raleigh.  (really?)  Then we squeezed in a short stay in Birmingham.  Then came the big move to Roanoke.  We had an apartment for a few months, then we purchased our first home.  This home was so special and so good to us.  It survived our first few years of marriage, it witnessed those long, tiresome nights when we first brought home Emma.  It saw her take her first steps, eat her first birthday cake, and speak her first words.  Wonderful memories indeed.

 And oh the friendships made along the way.  The kind that will last a lifetime.  I'll still be reminiscing with these folks when it's Emma's turn to go to college or have her first child.

But through all these many addresses, all these wonderful experiences, all these cherished friendships, my heart kept pulling me back to my roots.  To where it thinks is home.

 

Well, I'm so happy to say, our newest address is the closest to home I've been in a long time.  We've only been here a week and I can already feel a rekindling of my former self.  There is just something about returning home that just warms the soul.  My heart, so to speak, is happy.