I’ll Never Do it Again!

Yeah, right.  It never fails.  I say this every time I end up taking the boys out with me to run errands close to Shea’s nap time.  And, I always end up doing it again after the exhaustion has worn off.  It’s kind of like having a baby.  You know, the amazing memory loss most women experience not long after child birth?  Somehow, we forget the pain, and want to do it again.

We started our afternoon of errands with a stop at the Dollar Tree, where Gage decided to torture his brother by standing on the rock (yes, he carries a rock with him everywhere he goes) Shea dropped in the store and acting like he didn’t know where it was.  He loves watching his brother scream, as I angrily ask him what he did to him, all the while acting like he has no clue what is wrong.  It makes me so mad I could scream, and I can’t figure out why Gage enjoys making me so angry.  We then head over to Lowe’s so that we can buy potting soil and grass seed for a project we’re doing for school.  I enter in the garden section, thinking it will be quicker, and soon realize that I will not be using a cart because there are none available in the garden center.  So, my 2 year old is free to roam, and this is always a recipe for disaster.  I grab a large bag of potting soil and we head inside to find grass seed.  As I’m looking at all the choices, trying to figure out which one we need (I know nothing about grass seed), Gage has discovered a section nearby of hatchets and axes, and he is bringing them all over to me to show me what he wants for Christmas.  So, I have my 8 year old carrying sharp objects, talking my ear off about what he wants for Christmas, my 2 year old grabbing snow shovels and “working” in the aisle, all as I try to decide which grass seed to purchase.  I finally make a decision and pick up the big bag of potting soil, which then bursts all over the floor.  As we walked back out to the garden center to get a new one (after grabbing a cart), Gage was saying, “Mom’s not in a good mood, Shea.”  We left Lowe’s and had one more stop to make.  Aldi.  I didn’t want to do it at all.  But, we really needed a few things.  Toilet paper is pretty important.  On the way, Shea decided to take his sock and shoe off, so when I got him out of the car I quickly put his shoe on without the sock.  He was not happy about this and screamed about wanting his sock on for half of our shopping experience.  I went straight to the Lunchable section to distract him.  It worked until he saw the candy, and then the rest of our shopping experience consisted of him screaming at the top of his lungs because he wanted the candy and I wouldn’t let him have it.  I hate Lunchables!  The screaming continued in the car, until he realized he wasn’t going to get the candy, and at that point he zonked out for his nap.  We arrived home, and as I took his shoes off, changed his diaper, and held him in my arms like I have since he was a baby, watching him sleep, all of the angst he caused for 2 hours slipped away.  I forgot it all that quick.  Isn’t it amazing?  It’s got to be God’s grace.  If it weren’t for these sweet moments (even if they are brief), I don’t think our world would continue reproducing.  I know I wouldn’t!