I was just going in to pick up a few things for Christmas which wouldn't be that difficult...or so I thought...
I pulled into the Toys 'R' Us parking lot with my kids and the excitement of seeing the sign had my 3 year old almost jumping out of the moving car. I got into the store and grabbed a cart. While I was tying the cart cover to the seat so I could put my 6 month in it (while battling him squirming in my arms), my little girl was asking incessantly if she could get an animal from the claw machine. "mom, mom, mom, momma, momma, mommy..." comes to mind when I rethink the events. Anyway, I "wrestled" with my baby and finally got the cover tied and him in the seat. We were ready to shop!
As we entered the store, I saw the scheming minds of Toys 'R' Us at work. Seasonal bins full of stuff that's "only" $5. All the little trinkets that get played with for 2 minutes and then you find them under the seats, in the couch, shoved places that you didn't even know your small kids went to. That's when it began.....all the wanting, whining, fit throwing, and pouting. I should have turned right around and left but I didn't realize what was about to happen so I continued on.
I finally wove us out of the danger zone and got into the heart of the store. My boy decided that was a great time to start wailing. I fished out his bottle (that I thankfully already had made) and put it in the gaping hole that was his mouth. Ahhh, quiet once again. We continued on to the electronics to look for a gift for my oldest. Things were going smoothly as we walked right to the area I was looking for, almost as if I knew what I was doing. It was then that I realized I didn't have a clue what I was getting for her. I sent a text to my husband (who was downtown Indy tailgating before a big game) who thankfully answered promptly. He told me exactly what to get, right down to the color. Of course, this particular store didn't have the exact gift he had seen just the day before at a different location so I wondered back and forth while my girl tugged at my shirt pulling me to look at electronics that she "wanted". After about 10 minutes, but what felt like 30, I found something that was going to work.
As we left the electronic section my baby started to fuss again. That's when I smelled it...yep, time to head to the bathroom. We passed all these toys that were just calling out to my little girl but we pushed on and made it to the restroom. I unbuckled the baby and we went into the stall. I laid him on the Koala bear branded changing table that I had to prop up with my knee because my 6 month is no ordinary 6 month, he's BIG! Hard plastic isn't any fun to lay on so you can only imagine how he was reacting. I'm sure the lady in the stall next to us thought I was traumatizing him. Tears and more wailing, but we made it through. I got the diaper bag put back together, his clothes on, and us back out into the hallway to load back into the cart. After strapping him into his seat and reorganizing the cart to make things fit again we were back off to finish our shopping.
As we made our way back over to the little girl section so I could sneakily grab a gift for a little girl who was really too old to be out Christmas shopping with mommy she says "mom, I have to go potty really bad". I glanced down at her through a gritted grin and ask her if she could hold it, knowing what the answer was going to be by the way she was fidgeting. She tried really hard to shake her head yes but that little yes nod turned quickly to a no. So back to the bathrooms we went.
Once again, I unstrapped the bubba from the cart and headed into the stall. (side note about me-I kind of have a public restroom phobia so being in one TWICE within 5 minutes had me whirling) Of course, as typical of public restrooms, there was pee all over the seat. I grabbed tissue and whipped it "clean" and then, with one arm-because I was also holding a baby-, picked her up and sat (EWWW) her on the seat. She finished up and we headed back into the store.
By that time my baby was just done with the in and out of the cart so I was carrying him, pushing a cart, and corralling a 3 year old in a toy store. We made our way up and down the billions of isles that make up Toys 'R'Us. I listened to "I want this and I NEEEEEED that" for almost every toy we passed. After what seemed to be an eternity, I found the perfect gifts and headed to the checkout where the claw machine was once again spotted. Yes, you all know what happened next..."can I get a toy? Can I get a toy? Can I puhlease get a toy?". All the while I'm tapping my foot, willing the cashier to just hurry up so we could get out of there.
Once the bill was paid I made it to the car in marathon runner's record time! It was then that I vowed to myself to NEVER go Christmas shopping alone with small children again! Oh, and NOT to wear a sweatshirt...even if it is only 60 degrees outside!
