Wednesday, December 3, 2008

The futility of shopping with a one-year-old

My husband has a two-night business trip, starting today, so I thought Olivia and I would entertain ourselves with a totally unnecessary trip "to town" to run a few errands. We'll be back on Friday for playdate and more errands, but I figured there was enough to do to warrant another leisurely trip to shop.

Leisurely, HA! As I was plotting my errands last night, the list kept getting longer and longer. And it turned out that there was no way I would have accomplished this all on Friday.

We did the necessary (oil change, pick up 1-year pictures, drop off dry cleaning) and the not-so-necessary (knock things off your Christmas list by stopping at ten million stores for exactly one item each, making yourself and the active toddler crazy).

I discovered that Olivia has entered the land of impossible when it comes to shopping. She refuses to sit in the cart seat. She will stand in the cargo area of the cart happily, but only for twenty minutes at a time, then she attempts to climb out. And she has developed a tantrum cry that is mind-numbingly grating. It sounds like she's seriously TRYING to damage her vocal cords. It's a cross between a growl and a cry. Ugh. I HATE it. She used it a lot today, interspersed by many moments of flashing her award-winning smile at total strangers and being totally sweet. It's like she can turn emotions on and off like a light switch.

Miraculously, we accomplished everything on my list. I have St. Nick Day gifts for stockings (Saturday, in case you were wondering), and almost everyone on my gift list is accounted for. Thank heavens, because I don't really do crowds and shopping and grumpy babies very well.

For your daily dose of happy, go visit Jen and congratulate her on the arrival of her baby girl, born just this morning.

1 comment:

Stephanie said...

I've taken the boys out once this year for Christmas shopping. Really not fun. Glad you got a lot done, though.