Errands

I had a couple errands to run today. Two of which could be taken care of without leaving the car. That's my kind of errand. So anyway, I needed a couple groceries, so I decided to stop at Aldi. First of all, it is smaller, so less overwhelming for the kids (and me!) and we could get in and out faster.

On the way to the store, I reviewed what I expected of them while we were in the store. I told Blake that he had to sit nicely in the cart, and no fighting me when I put him in. I told him if he got in nicely, I'd let him have a sucker. Thank goodness for the bank errand. And no, I am not above bribery. I told Drew he had to stay nearby me. So I had sufficiently explained the rules, and in we went. Well, to the cart area we went. I had to put the required quarter in to retrieve my cart. I was holding Blake in my arms, along with my quarter, my purse and my keys. Blake saw that I was serious about putting him in the cart, and began to wiggle and squirm. I know he is way too big for a cart, but today I didn't think I could handle two children running amok. I reminded him of the sucker, and sweetened the deal by removing the wrapper. Ahh, that did the trick. He obediently put his little legs where I wanted them and allowed me to buckle him in. All the while, Drew stood in front of the automatic doors, flapping and greeting customers as they tried to get around him.

I ushered him into the store. Drew is obsessed with doors, and the automatic kind are the creme de la creme of doors. My suggestion that he pick out which cookies to buy was not enough to lure him away from the doors. Now, this Aldi was not terribly busy, but there were some people there. I tried to firmly but quietly get him to follow. I said, "Drew, come on. Stay with Mommy." Eventually, I walked far enough away from him that he decided he better follow along. We made it to the milk area, where there are--you guessed it--more doors. I gave him a minute or two to open and close the doors, then repeated my phrase, "Drew, come on. Stay with Mommy." I turned around, and almost bumped into a speech therapist at Blake's school. We chatted for a minute, and she told me that I was a patient mother. Well, that gave me something to live up to. lol.

We stopped at various spots, opening and closing doors, talking about the items we saw. Drew kept taking off in the opposite direction I was heading, and at one point he headed to the checkout. A nice lady who apparently heard my mantra, said, "Drew, you better go back to your Mom, she's waiting for you." He reluctantly agreed, and eventually we made it to the checkout. I warned the cashier that we needed to keep the cart we had, or I'd never be able to get Blake into the new one she wanted to use. She was a little irritated by it, but agreed. She said to Blake, "Do you promise not to touch my buttons?" Sure, lady. Whatever you say. He just smiled devilishly at her. Fortunately, he didn't touch her buttons, and we made it to the van.

Incidentally, when I got home, and I talked to Eric. He said, 'When you were in Sidney, did you remember to pick up Blake's prescription at Kroger?" I knew there was a reason I was supposed to go to Kroger!