Disaster Control

I swore to NEVER be one of those Moms who unwillingly pushed one of those child-size zambonis around the store where the toddler can "drive" the cart while your infant rides atop the handle bars just to keep the world from falling from its axis while you got a FEW things accomplished. No. I would be stronger than that. And no, my child would never get to enjoy such audacious luxuries especially at the expense of my dignity. Of which one loses a lot of after knocking over end caps of crackers and cereals, shelves of plastic patio dinnerware, not to mention the occasional run-in with the regular sized shopping cart coming the other way down the aisle. These large carts are the H2s of the grocery shopping world and I've always despised them.

But then there was today.

Katie and I awoke at our regular time of 7:30AM while Kyle and Will continued the sleep/wake rhythm for another half hour. I got the coffee going, made toast, gave Katie her milk and resorted to our new couch to watch Arthur and play house with Katie and her "tchoo" babies -- "tchoo" stands for 2 or more. One is never enough. Kyle slowly arose and brought Will out with him. He handed Will off, hugged and kissed us all a good morning and went to pour his cup of coffee. Upon his return, he sat with appreciation next to me on our couch. Couches with springs and without holes is something we've never known!

In any case, Kyle's relationship with our daughter is quite unique. Katie loves dolls, she loves dress-up and make-up, she loves her tea party set BUT she enjoys just as much the danger that her father introduces her to. These are things I've spoke of before... skateboarding sitting on daddy's shoulders, standing on daddy's hand while he straightens his arm up over his head, being thrown oh-so-high in the air with high hopes of being caught on the way down yet a shadow of uncertainty is always present. Exciting. And I believe that because of this connection Kyle tends to believe that they connect on all levels. An example of this is how he will observe her chipper/happy mood in a moment's time and begin to "push her buttons" hoping that she will simply laugh in good humor and continue on with her chipper/happy mood. But what he doesn't realize sometimes is that this happy go lucky fun that he's having is only flipping our daughter on her head emotionally simply to turn right side up in a funk for the rest of the day!

This morning Kyle began playing with Katie nicely. Talking sweetly, having good conversation, taking orders and playing house. This then turned into being silly hoping that Katie would follow suit. When she didn't and instead lovingly asked him to 'get back on track' in her own words, Kyle continued on. This then turned into Katie laughing in the same way one laughs when they're being tickled against their will. You know, the pissed off laugh. When all was said and done, Katie didn't have much interest in playing anymore but instead wanted Mom... and she wanted me for the rest of the morning. No joke. It was all I could do to get out of the house and go to the grocery store in hopes of finding a child-size zamboni that my daughter could enjoy while I attempted to get something accomplished.

Today at Safeway in Mill Creek, Will sat in his carseat atop the handlebars and Katie Andretti bulldozed her way down the aisles while I shopped for tonight's lasagna dinner. Aside from having to BACK OUT of aisles and reevaluate how close I was to anyone ahead of me, it wasn't all that bad.

I apologize to anyone I have mocked in the past for lugging these monstrous carts around the store. For all I know, you probably had a morning not unlike the one I just had and there I was - less than understanding.