The Best of Bread
Of all the pieces of baby equipment we own, the one we still use the most is the stroller. I think that and the changing table are the only pieces of baby equipment we still use, and the changing table fell out of favor once I discovered that changing wet diapers was much easier on the floor. Poopy diapers, however, are still changed on the changing table to lessen the odds of spreading their joy on the carpet.
When I go shopping with the boys, I need a way to keep them under control, something to keep them contained while I make important consumer decisions such as whether to buy the soup with less sodium, or the soup with less saturated fat. If I become too engrossed in comparing products, I could lose track of the boys. God forbid I lose one of them in a store, or, almost as bad, they damage a product while I’m not paying attention.
I throw them in the stroller to keep them contained. Many times I can throw them in a shopping cart to keep them entertained, putting one in the front seat while the other one rummages through things I deposit in the basket. Not all stores offer shopping carts, though, and sometimes it’s just easier to use the stroller with ample storage space underneath the seats and out of range of prying fingers.
The bread store has no shopping carts. Well, they do have carts, but they’re comically undersized, the kind most stores use with a giant flag attached that reads “shopper in training.” Their carts barely hold a few loaves of bread, never mind a pair of toddlers plus a few loaves of bread.
I stopped at the bread store this morning with the boys in the back of the car and Abbie at preschool. I opted to use the stroller, and pulled it out of the back. I took Tory out of the car, moved him to the stroller, and held on tight as he threw a fit. He threw one of those kicking, screaming fits that make half of those nearby think “my kid would never do that,” and the other half think “ that kid shouldn’t be out in public.”
I knew he didn’t want in the stroller. For most of his life, he’s been happy to spend short stretches strapped into the stroller. Recently he’s been resisting, though. He doesn’t resist every time, just when I really need him to sit quietly and calmly for a couple minutes.
I decided to take the ultimate risk. I returned the stroller to the car, pulled Ian out of the car, and walked into the bread store with the boys running loose. Once in the store, I could only hold onto one boy at a time since my other hand would be holding a basket of bread. I didn’t think anything bad could happen, though. The store is small, with a shopping area maybe 40x50 and four aisles wide. Even if they ran off, I couldn’t lose them since they’d be right around the corner. What’s the worst that could happen?
They ran off in the store. I didn’t pay much attention to them until I heard the rustling of plastic bread wrappers. The boys love bread, and they kept pulling loaves off the shelves, leaving deep toddler handprints in their wake. I kept whisking loaves from their hands before any damage was done. At least, I told myself no damage was done as I hastily returned the loaves to the shelves.
As we waited to checkout, I held the shopping basket in one hand, and the hoods from both of the boys’ coats in my other hand. They stood with their hoods taut, trying to move as close as they could to those tantalizing loaves. I never let go, and they never grabbed another loaf. The bread store experiment worked well enough, but next time I’ll contain them in the stroller no matter how big a fit Tory throws.
When I go shopping with the boys, I need a way to keep them under control, something to keep them contained while I make important consumer decisions such as whether to buy the soup with less sodium, or the soup with less saturated fat. If I become too engrossed in comparing products, I could lose track of the boys. God forbid I lose one of them in a store, or, almost as bad, they damage a product while I’m not paying attention.
I throw them in the stroller to keep them contained. Many times I can throw them in a shopping cart to keep them entertained, putting one in the front seat while the other one rummages through things I deposit in the basket. Not all stores offer shopping carts, though, and sometimes it’s just easier to use the stroller with ample storage space underneath the seats and out of range of prying fingers.
The bread store has no shopping carts. Well, they do have carts, but they’re comically undersized, the kind most stores use with a giant flag attached that reads “shopper in training.” Their carts barely hold a few loaves of bread, never mind a pair of toddlers plus a few loaves of bread.
I stopped at the bread store this morning with the boys in the back of the car and Abbie at preschool. I opted to use the stroller, and pulled it out of the back. I took Tory out of the car, moved him to the stroller, and held on tight as he threw a fit. He threw one of those kicking, screaming fits that make half of those nearby think “my kid would never do that,” and the other half think “ that kid shouldn’t be out in public.”
I knew he didn’t want in the stroller. For most of his life, he’s been happy to spend short stretches strapped into the stroller. Recently he’s been resisting, though. He doesn’t resist every time, just when I really need him to sit quietly and calmly for a couple minutes.
I decided to take the ultimate risk. I returned the stroller to the car, pulled Ian out of the car, and walked into the bread store with the boys running loose. Once in the store, I could only hold onto one boy at a time since my other hand would be holding a basket of bread. I didn’t think anything bad could happen, though. The store is small, with a shopping area maybe 40x50 and four aisles wide. Even if they ran off, I couldn’t lose them since they’d be right around the corner. What’s the worst that could happen?
They ran off in the store. I didn’t pay much attention to them until I heard the rustling of plastic bread wrappers. The boys love bread, and they kept pulling loaves off the shelves, leaving deep toddler handprints in their wake. I kept whisking loaves from their hands before any damage was done. At least, I told myself no damage was done as I hastily returned the loaves to the shelves.
As we waited to checkout, I held the shopping basket in one hand, and the hoods from both of the boys’ coats in my other hand. They stood with their hoods taut, trying to move as close as they could to those tantalizing loaves. I never let go, and they never grabbed another loaf. The bread store experiment worked well enough, but next time I’ll contain them in the stroller no matter how big a fit Tory throws.
posted by Matt at
11:29 PM
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