Today, as I walked through those doors with both girls, I felt a small sense of trepidation. (Yeah, just wait until it's 3 kids, you're thinking. I am well aware of this fact already.) Averey, while mostly super energetic, would prefer to stand on the back of the cart because apparently the walking tires her out. (That's what she gets for not eating a good supper!) Kelsey would prefer to walk, but the lack of trust I have with her gives her a front seat to the cart. Lately, she's figured out how to unbuckle the safety belt, so I just decided not to fasten her in.
As we made our way through the aisles with my list in hand, Kelsey wanted out of the cart, making no bones about her intentions. Since Kelsey will follow Averey around like a little duckling, I told her she could be out if she held her sister's hand. Since Averey is the firstborn and has that motherly, in-charge instinct, she took her role seriously. We continued through the store, and I was actually quite amused at watching them walk, chatting among themselves.
Just as we were on our last leg of our journey, we'd made it to the food section without incident. Averey was suddenly attracted to the big barrel of Cheez Balls, and Kelsey to the Goldfish. I picked up a bulk box of fruit snacks and appropriately dropped it on the floor as I seem to have a ridiculous case of the "dropsies" now that I'm pregnant. (It's such a cruel joke to drop everything on the floor when you can barely bend down to reach it!). As I placed them in the cart, Kelsey bolted down the aisle. Now even though I had made time earlier to do my Physical Therapy exercises for my back, I was still in no shape for running. So little mommy Averey ran after her, and then announced, "She's in the next aisle!" I left my cart and we tag-teamed Kelsey, just as she took a spill on the floor. The resilient child that she is, she barely blinked an eye and got up. I scooped her up and placed her back in the cart just like I had warned her.
Ah, safe at the checkout. Kelsey wanted to place the items on the conveyor belt, so I gave them to her and she was excited to help. As the items were bagged and I put them back in the cart, it was clear I was going to need Kelsey's seat for some bags. She was itching to get out anyway, so I told her to once again hold her sister's hand. And then it all happened in a blink...
I was paying the cashier, watching the girls out of the corner of my eye. Before I knew it, Kelsey was gone, Averey was shrugging her shoulders, and I was urgently telling Averey to go get her sister. (!!!) The cashier sensed I needed to get out of there, and I was running my cart out of the store with no girls in sight. (And this is why I am no Supermom. Who lets a 2-year-old out of her sight in Target?)
I suddenly saw Averey's blond head and yellow shirt (good choice) at the entrance. I stormed out of the store, back into the store, and there Kelsey was, wedged in a comfy corner behind the metal detector, sucking her thumb and hanging onto her lovey blanket. I grabbed her, realized my cart was in the entrance, but no one was walking through the entrance at that moment, and those entrance doors are clearly marked "DO NOT EXIT", so I stormed out of the store and back into the store again, snagged my cart, and Kelsey was slipping out of my arms like a fish. We then were blocking the exit door, and people passed us, hopefully not paying one bit of attention to the spectacle we surely were creating. I took her lovey, which caused her to cry harder, but it was the only way I could get her attention so we could all get out of there in one piece. Even though it was just a couple hours ago, I honestly can't recall if I had her hold her sister's hand, or if I carried her... oh, no wait. I carried her. My back is paying for that as we speak.
She cried on the way home. I wanted to, but was seething. At Kelsey for not listening, at myself for forgetting this is the child who has dashed into the ocean with no fear, and takes off running with no warning. And then the pain from being 6 months pregnant with terrible sciatic pain kicked in, and that almost did make me cry. I can't even run after my child! What if she had run out into the parking lot? And can I really expect my 6-year-old to stop her when she knows not to run in a parking lot?
No one gives you a manual for child-rearing. They are all so different, even when biologically related. God knows that I am fully equipped to handle Kelsey. I just have to remember that for myself.
So 2 hours later as she's naked from the waist down, and calling her sister, "Mommy Averey", I just have to laugh to myself and remember that this kid has far more hilarious moments than ones like what we experienced at Target today.
If anything, I spent less today than I would have if I had shopped alone. I know that will at least make Jake happy.
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