Late night grocery trips = hidden blessings

So I admit it... I really don't like shopping. And the shopping I like the LEAST is grocery shopping. There's nothing worse than arriving at the grocery store, with all the seasonal toys and candy propped up right at the front of the store before you get to the kids play place... and then there's that sinking feeling you get when you realize the kids play place is closed for the evening. Now, not only do you have a child who is upset because they won't unlock the door and let him play video games, but you have a child who now wants to push the cart and buy his OWN list of groceries instead of YOUR list of groceries. Tack onto that your Mother tagging along saying "Oh look at that cute..." insert anything here. It's usually about 3 seconds too late to remind her that pointing out anything cute adds to the CHILD'S grocery list instead of yours.

So when I dropped off Gama (Grandma) at the door of the grocery store, I was only way too happy to stay in the car with my increasingly taller 3-year old and sing Mickey Mouse songs from the CD in the car radio. However, this was one of those nights where I realized there was that ONE thing that we needed to get before going home... and Gama DIDN'T have her cell phone on her. Of all the luck. I don't even remember what that one thing was, but when I mentioned out loud that Gama might forget something from the list, Brandon was all gung-ho to run in and remind her. He was just dying to go running through that store to find her. Of course I thought "Fine. I'll walk you in there, and you run around and find her. I'll wait by the cash register." Hee hee. (NOT. But he's fast and it was sooooo tempting.)

Well, before Gama got to the register and had to check out twice, I figured I better get in there so we could find that last item. That's when I realized we had a big problem... NO SHOES. I had rushed out of the house to run Gama up to the store and in my haste had just jumped in the warm car in the garage and let Brandon tag along, no jacket and no shoes. I really had NOT planned on taking him out of the car. I was okay with being coatless, but NOT him. Not to mention, my shoulder and back were not very excited about carrying him around the store until we found Gama.

Thank goodness I had Brandon's old carrier in the back seat for an emergency winter blanket in the car. I yanked it out and threw it (and Brandon) on, then we ran into the grocery store all toasty warm, tied up to each other. It didn't take too long to find Gama and then find the last item, but by the time we got to the front register, Brandon was already too comfortable. While standing in line, Brandon laid his head down against the back of my neck, curled his fingers up in my hair, and said "Mommy, I'm gonna go to sleep now. Don't wake me up." LMAO!

Well, the cold wind on the way to the car woke him up anyway, but it was one of those moments that just makes you feel good for the rest of the night. I'm really glad I didn't have to lug him around for very long, now that he's so big, but it made me feel good to be able to manage in a "grocery emergency" like that.