July 31, 2011
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I almost cried…but who has time for that anyway?
Because grocery shopping necessitates toting three small children with me, I have grown to dread it. So yet again, Saturday finds us with nothing but ketchup and butter in our fridge. Since this wasn’t much of a meal, I decided it was time for our trip to the grocery store…an ill fated trip it was destined to be.
It started raining while we were loading in the car. I thought about not going. But then what would there be for supper? The boys were grumpy the whole way there; tummies growling no doubt…poor starving children! I parked and sat in the car a minute, breathing deeply and trying to get the gumption up to go in. Not wanting to be the brunt of social criticism (again) I ran through the growing list of shopping rules with the boys:
No hitting, screaming, or loud bodily noises
No throwing stuff out of the cart
No putting random stuff in the cart
No begging for anything…or you won’t get it!
Stay on your side of the cart…hands to yourselves…etc
As an added bonus, I promised a treat (ahem…’bribe’) for them as we shopped. Miriam in the sling and both boys squeezed into the double seater shopping cart, we headed straight for the lunch counter and purchased two bags of chips for the boys to munch. That should allay their hunger! If only I could finish shopping before the bags run out of chips!
I worked quickly through my grocery list…weaving my way through a very congested store (NEVER go shopping on a Saturday afternoon) I was less than halfway through my list when I heard Miriam “squirt” into her diaper. (if you have infants, you are familiar with this dangerous sound) The very best way to get your infant to poop is to put them in their very cutest little outfit and head out to a public place. Then they will be sure to have an explosion that will humiliate you and make others question your parenting. I could tell by the sound, this was to be such a diaper. I began racing madly around the store, careening dangerously around corners with my loaded cart, brushing past strangers in my haste. Somewhere on the condiments aisle, trying to decide on a jar of mayonnaise, I suddenly noticed that somebody had dripped mustard all over the floor. How thoughtless. I looked for where the mustard originated….oh horrors!!!! The ‘mustard’ was dripping down by leg, originating from the general direction of my babies’ overflowing diaper. (for those of you who do not have young babies, their poo is a mustardy yellow color..yep)
In a panic, I raced for the checkout. The boy’s chips were finished now and the moans of hunger were beginning to grow to a roar again. I didn’t have to tell the cashier to hurry…he was as eager to get me out of there as I was. The grand total displayed on the monitor was atrocious….and amounted to more than the cash I had stuffed in the pocket of my baby sling. I took four items off..including the dog food…sorry Coco; you can eat scraps for a few nights. Gathering what was left of my change (and my dignity) I held my head high and walked out the door. I was about to cry…it’s so hard! So exhausting! Why!?!!
To make matters worse, some car followed me to my parking spot and put on their blinker, waiting to take my space. SERIOUSLY?!?!! If you’re going to wait for a mom to load her three children and a cart full of groceries, you are really desperate for a close parking spot. Get a life! Get some exercise! I was hurrying as fast as I could, sweating in the 102 degree heat, self concious of some lazy being sitting in their air-conditioned car watching me….waiting on me. I was just about to give up when…what was that? Some woman was running up towards me with….dog food??? “Here you go, I bought this for you” She said simply “I hope this helps” and with a smile, she was gone. “Thank you!” I yelled after her. She probably thought I couldn’t afford it. Or maybe she realized how hard it was to shop with kids, and didn’t want me to have to come back. Whatever her reasons, it made my day. Instead of crying, I found myself grinning the whole way home. A kindness that I can never repay, she gave expecting nothing in return. It makes it all better. I hope I am never so self-absorbed that I can’t take time to notice those struggling around me and offer a helping hand. Don’t forget to give random acts of kindness! They mean more than you know.