When The Princess was a toddler, she was a dream child. Really, she was this amazingly articulate little being. She never really sounded like a baby, she was just this all around good kid when she was two. She never seemed like she was two, when she was two. She seemed older and beyond that whole toddler stage. She never even hit the “Terrible Twos” (Well, not until she was three – don’t ask me about that). Consequently, I’m always gobsmacked at how freakishly different Pumpkin is than her big sister [Note: Really, gobsmacked is a great word – let’s all make an effort to use it more, shall we?].
This morning, we made a trip to Target. Tax season is upon us and we were preparing a bag of “goodies” for Hubby that we’ll deliver to him Monday. We were picking up things like peanuts, protein bars, Tylenol, and Lysol wipes (to wipe down after clients come in!). Pumpkin was sitting in the back of the grocery cart, but at one point, she stood up and started leaning out of the cart to try to grab something off the shelf. At this point, I warned her, “Sit down, or you’ll go sit in the front.” I realize she should have been in the front to begin with, but I didn’t feel like fighting that fight when we got to the store – as long as she was planted on her fanny in the back of the cart, it was all good with me.
But. She wouldn’t sit back down.
Once, BFF and I saw a kid fall out of a cart and smack his noggin on the cement floor at Home Depot. I will never forget the sound it made and that big pause before the boy started screaming. BFF and I were still shaken by it well into the day. I’ve seen it happen, and I just didn’t want it to be my kid falling out of the cart.
She ignored my warning, I pulled her out of the back of the cart, put her in the front. And then. And then.
The screaming began.
Oh yeah. She did the full-on, scream at the top of her lungs right there in the ProteinBar/Nutritional Supplement aisle at Target. It was horrifying. I didn’t cave in though. I kept pushing the cart. And she kept screaming. Other people were giving me That Look, which I know, because I’ve given it to other moms before – that sympathetic, “Oh, poor you – so glad it’s not my kid” look. The screams went on, so I told her we were leaving, promptly hit the checkout lane and went to pay for our stuff.
The woman behind me was very sympathetic, and I told her, “I always wondered what on EARTH moms did when their kids threw fits like this! I was always so relieved it wasn’t my kid. There’s some karma for you.” She laughed and said, “Been there, done that! I have little ones too.”
We paid, I handed Pumpkin some Cheez-Its and life was calm again. My head has only now, three hours later, stopped pounding.
I know how you feel. BabyGirl & #1 Son went berzerk last week in the store…we’ve vowed to never take them again!
My nephew did a header out of the back of a cart in Target on day & knocked himself out cold. They had to call the paramedics…and this was 3 years after his older sister did the same thing! I have a hard firm, butt on the bottom of the cart rule…or you walk. I’ve often had to half drag a child mid-tantrum through the store because I enforced the rule. It bites.
Oh, and I keep meaning to tell you about this: Coffee-Mate Gingerbread Creamer! I’m in the midst of buying it in bulk. It’s on clearence at Wal-Mart for 75 cents a bottle. I get the ones that expire in March so I can stock up. I though they might help you when Starbucks stops offering the Gingerbread Latte. 😉 We don’t have a Starbucks, so I’m not sure how it measures up, but I lurve it…and the eggnog is good too!