Thursday, May 03, 2007

a new mom's attempt at survival part IV: getting out and about



as i mentioned in my last post, tristan has been able to stay awake for longer periods of time, which has enticed me to get out with him more. yesterday i took him with me to coffee at zandra's and had a great time there with the other moms. tristan enjoyed it as well, checking out all the cute baby girls. today i decided to take him to the grocery store with me. this has not been attempted in a long time due to him screaming bloody murder every time i tried it. well, today i was brave. today i was determined. today...

-tristan wakes up cranky after a 45 min nap (classic for him) i try to get him back to sleep, but no use. instead i decide to do groceries immediately as he won't be hungry for another hour.

-change his diaper, load up the car and off we go, realizing too late that i've got a lovely splotch of spit up on my right shoulder. wipe it up as best i can.

-coming into town see a large traffic jam ahead. big accident, detour, lots of stop and go...tristan does marvelously well in his carseat, blabbering away to his little teddy bear.

-strap tristan in his baby bjorn and feel quite proud as people smile and coo at him walking into the pharmacy to drop off prescription. pharmacists takes about a million years to get to me, but i am patient and thinking to myself "oh, this is a piece of cake!"

-enter the grocery store, grab a cart and start shopping. tristan's happy gurgles are turning into little frustrated cries now and then. with one hand i steer the shopping cart and hold his pacifier in his mouth with the other hand. say continuously out loud "we're almost done, we're almost done" and realize that i am saying it as much to myself as to my son.

-tristan's little cries are getting whinier now as i careen around the corner and stop my cart in the express lineup. a man behind me seems to be peering into my cart, but i pay him no notice until he says "excuse me? you have more than 15 items in your cart" a bit taken aback, i ask if he'd like to go ahead of me and he says "yes i would!" before plopping down his basket right in front of me. i count the items in my cart: 17.

-a kind lady in the lineup next to me comes over and whispers how she thinks its terrible that someone would waste their time with counting another person's groceries and she smiles at me. she then proceeds to make googly faces at tristan. his reaction is to start WAILING.

-i bounce him up and down in the bjorn, try stuffing the pacifier in, all to no avail. so i just let him cry and hope that the man in front of me is enjoying the backround noise.

-finally pay and walk briskly to my car. strap tristan in, put groceries into trunk. tristan's wails are turning into screams and, in my haste, i barely notice that the bag holding my milk has broken. large jug of milk goes sailing across the parking lot and bounces a couple of times on the pavement before coming to rest against the tire of a parked car, unbroken (thank heavens!)

-rescue my milk, jump in my car and then find that because of the detour from the accident, the parking lot is pretty much a traffic jam and i am unable to back out. i attempt to inch my way out and squeeze in, but my little car is no match for the gigantic, gas-guzzling, SUV's and trucks that are blocking my way. begin muttering little angry bad words under my breath as my baby's cries turn into choking coughs.

-finally back out, then through the detour, taking 10 extra minutes to get back onto the road i need to be on. come home, fly through the door and feed my now grateful son (momentarily forgetting about the milk and frozen food in my trunk)

-tristan finishes eating with a drunk/sleepy/content look on his face. ahh, what an angel. i kiss him softly and wrap him up and slowly lower him into his crib when "BAM!!" somehow i manage to bonk his poor little head against the crib rails. his content look turns to surprised hurt as he cries and cries and cries. there's nothing i can offer him that will make him stop, so i just hold him until he falls asleep in my arms.

-my dear husband calls me from work and i tell him everything that just happened ending with "i am NOT going grocery shopping alone with him for a LONG time!" josh just laughed and told me i'm being a drama queen. he now wants to call me DQ. he said "the milk couldn't have SAILED across the parking lot; i'm sure it didn't go further than 2 feet." i assured him he was wrong and then we just bantered back and forth for awhile and i realized then that the whole situation was kind of funny, in hindsight.

-the milk is now in the fridge, the frozen food in the freezer, and my son is sleeping peacefully in his room. i have survived.

12 comments:

L&D said...

Oh this is motherhood to a "T." Yup, the joys of it all. I was waiting to hear that your breasts started to magically leak and spray all over the place. That would have made for an even better story. There's always next time....

Bonnie said...

Why is it always one thing right after the other? I hate that! I can't believe that guy that counted your groceries. What a jerk.

Jennifer said...

and it never stops. it never gets better. only your ablility to handle it will. this is it...this is motherhood. it only changes. lately I've had a 3.5 year old boy screaming in the grocery store for a cookie or a movie. too big for me to carry when his kicks are like charlie horses :)
pitty about the unforseeable traffic though. Why didn't you just feed him in the car before going home?
bumps and bruises heal.
I'm sure the milk was flying!

Miranda said...

babies make for quite an adventure. Cant wait to have my own

Christina said...

Best post ever! Best birth control ever...

Meredith said...

I cannot tell you how many times I had to pull over in traffic or a random parking lot to feed either of my babes.
I love your survival stories and can't wait to see you & Tristan when you come in a few months.

Lovella ♥ said...

Oh my goodness,
When Terrence was about Tristans age I ventured out to Guilford shopping center. I know, pretty far. Anyways, my friend Kathy was with me and Adrienne her little girl. He screamed blue murder the entire way home. Kathy and I were singing little sunday school songs at the top of our lungs trying to shock him out of his pathetic ploy to try to get me to stop on the freeway and feed him. Good times.

I am wondering about something else now. My father in law called me DQ all the time when the boys were little. I always thought it was for Dairy Queen . .makes sense right? No, now I'm thinking he thought I was a drama queen.

Nicci said...

That is too funny. Sometimes the husbands have no clue to what we moms go through in a day. I can't believe that guy had the nerve to say something to you . What a jerk!

Z-Mama said...

Could that guy not see the look on your face that you were desperate to quickly get out of the grocery store??? Some people just don't get it.

ⒿⒶⓃⓔⓉ said...

i am glad that you survived. i tell my husband all the time that i'll wait and go to the store by myself, kolby always wants to leave before i am ready ;).

i went to coffee at Zandra's once, it was nice to meet other mommies.

Ej said...

There is something about grocery store and babies that make everything fall apart! Once they are older you can bring supplies(like cookies, or crackers) but you still might end up carrying a toddler while trying to push a cart. Motherhood is the ultimate hazing ritual - aren't you glad you signed up!!

Thoughts on Life and Millinery. said...

Happy First Mother's Day!
You've earned your Special Day big time this year!