Maybe She Needed Some Coffee...
Abbie had a bad morning today. Maybe she didn’t sleep well last night. Maybe her crankiness was related to her pooping three times before her afternoon nap. Maybe her breakfast of pancakes, Gatorade, a couple bites of donut, and a cookie she swiped turned her into a sugar junkie in desperate need of a fix by mid-morning. Whatever the cause, she was a handful to keep content all morning. It was the ideal morning to hole up in the house and spare the world from being subjected to our screaming child.
Naturally we needed to go out this morning. We needed to pick up a few Vital Supplies for our house, and an assortment of gifts. Within the span of about a week, one coworker will have his second child, one coworker will have his eighth child, and a friend’s child will have her first birthday. Obviously there’s something magical about that second week of June in Iowa. Since one child had already arrived, we needed to hit the store to start repaying some of the kindness, and material goods, we received when the twins were born, cranky child or not. Sure one of us could have stayed home with Abbie and possibly the twins, but Ellie wanted to pick up a few things and darned if I was going to miss a rare opportunity to leave the house.
We packed up everybody for the store right after feeding the twins, intent on returning before they’d need fed again. In the store we did the usual Abbie in the cart pushed by me, twins in the double-stroller pushed by Ellie routine. The twins are still young enough to sleep through any stroller trips, so they were easily handled as long as we replaced their pacifiers at first complaint. Abbie on the other hand started protesting almost immediately after entering the cart, and she never even liked pacifiers. I used songs to keep her quiet while we picked up newborn gifts.* Even while shopping for the one-year-old, she stayed tranquil as long as I kept moving and talking. Since she was still quiet, I pressed my luck by looking for Vital Supplies while Ellie looked for whatever she needed. That turned out to be a worse idea than the WBC as she (Abbie) started screaming as soon as I lost sight of Ellie. I hurriedly grabbed what I needed and circled around looking for Ellie. I didn’t have any luck finding her at first, but fortunately Abbie’s screams allowed Ellie to use her sonar to find us as long as we stood still.
Reunited, we proceeded to the checkout. There was a line, so Ellie took Abbie to walk about the store while I waited in line, controlling the cart in one hand and the stroller in the other, filling my hands in a way I couldn’t have imagined a couple years ago.
With gifts and Supplies bought, I waited by the doors for the women of our family’s return. I couldn’t find them for a couple minutes, but soon my sonar told me they were coming. Abbie tripped and landed face first on the floor, giving her ample reason to cry about the latest tragedy in her life. We calmed down Abbie, and quickly packed up everyone and everything before someone else started crying. Then we went home. Abbie was poopy anyway.
* We bought diapers. That’s a gift tip for non-firstborn children. Chances are the family already has most everything else they need. Stuffed animals just take up space anyway, no matter how cute they are.
Naturally we needed to go out this morning. We needed to pick up a few Vital Supplies for our house, and an assortment of gifts. Within the span of about a week, one coworker will have his second child, one coworker will have his eighth child, and a friend’s child will have her first birthday. Obviously there’s something magical about that second week of June in Iowa. Since one child had already arrived, we needed to hit the store to start repaying some of the kindness, and material goods, we received when the twins were born, cranky child or not. Sure one of us could have stayed home with Abbie and possibly the twins, but Ellie wanted to pick up a few things and darned if I was going to miss a rare opportunity to leave the house.
We packed up everybody for the store right after feeding the twins, intent on returning before they’d need fed again. In the store we did the usual Abbie in the cart pushed by me, twins in the double-stroller pushed by Ellie routine. The twins are still young enough to sleep through any stroller trips, so they were easily handled as long as we replaced their pacifiers at first complaint. Abbie on the other hand started protesting almost immediately after entering the cart, and she never even liked pacifiers. I used songs to keep her quiet while we picked up newborn gifts.* Even while shopping for the one-year-old, she stayed tranquil as long as I kept moving and talking. Since she was still quiet, I pressed my luck by looking for Vital Supplies while Ellie looked for whatever she needed. That turned out to be a worse idea than the WBC as she (Abbie) started screaming as soon as I lost sight of Ellie. I hurriedly grabbed what I needed and circled around looking for Ellie. I didn’t have any luck finding her at first, but fortunately Abbie’s screams allowed Ellie to use her sonar to find us as long as we stood still.
Reunited, we proceeded to the checkout. There was a line, so Ellie took Abbie to walk about the store while I waited in line, controlling the cart in one hand and the stroller in the other, filling my hands in a way I couldn’t have imagined a couple years ago.
With gifts and Supplies bought, I waited by the doors for the women of our family’s return. I couldn’t find them for a couple minutes, but soon my sonar told me they were coming. Abbie tripped and landed face first on the floor, giving her ample reason to cry about the latest tragedy in her life. We calmed down Abbie, and quickly packed up everyone and everything before someone else started crying. Then we went home. Abbie was poopy anyway.
* We bought diapers. That’s a gift tip for non-firstborn children. Chances are the family already has most everything else they need. Stuffed animals just take up space anyway, no matter how cute they are.
posted by Matt at
10:56 PM
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