Another Messy Mommy Day

It's been one of those days. 


Scott works from home many days and his office is in our basement...at about 9:30 this morning he said, "Lis, what the heck is going on up there?"


I just raised my eyebrows and shook my head. Crying baby, whining toddler, food smattered around the kitchen, explosive poopy diapers, said baby pulling things over, said toddler knocking baby over. 


These are the days that usually prompt me to think that it is a good idea to get out of the house.


These are the same days that it usually turns out to be not such a good idea to get out of the house.


Nonetheless, we took another afternoon trip to Wegmans to do our grocery shopping. I was going to go last night, but it got late and it was snowing pretty heavily so I decided to try to take the girls today. 


I stopped grocery shopping during the day after Ella was born, and now I remember why.   


Wegman's has a childcare room for kids 3-8 (I know Ava is not yet 3, that's another story all together.) When we entered the store I was holding Ava's hand and had Ella in the shopping cart, but knew I should take Ava to the bathroom because whoever the childcare worker was was not going to be able to take her. So, we parked our cart outside of the bathroom, I carried Ella in, and then proceeded to balance her on my knee while I put toilet paper down, unbuttoned Ava's jeans, helped her up on the potty, helped her wipe and then helped her get her pants back up. 


We didn't even wash her hands (gross!!!) because I didn't know what to do with Ella(there were no stools and the sink was higher than Ava's head)! This was the first time I took both of them into a store with Ella out of her infant carrier. She is getting way to big for it, but now I remember why I've kept her in it for so long...because I can just set it on the floor while I do things like help toddlers go to the bathroom and wash their hands. 


We finally get Ava into the childcare room, which she seemed ok about (a small miracle) and Ella and I began our shopping. Twenty minutes later my pager starts going off. 


Ava has a tendency to freak out in childcare settings sometimes, so I'm imagining her red-faced and crying screaming for me as I push the cart all the way back to the front of the store to check things out. 


She's fine. She just claims to have to go to the bathroom. 


Alrighty then. 


We push the cart, now half full of groceries to the bathroom, leave it parked outside the door with my purse, jacket, and Ava's coat, go in, wait for a very small stall and, guess what?


I balance Ella on my knee while I help pull Ava's pants down, put toilet paper down, and hoist her up on the toilet at which point she does in fact poop for the first time in a public restroom. 


Cool. 


We wipe, pull up pants, flush toilets, and cannot wash her hands again because my hands are holding Ella, but we do find some hand sanitizer. 


I put her back in childcare, manage to launch $170 worth of groceries in my cart because I can no longer think clearly about what I need and Ella has eaten my grocery list. 


Here is the funniest part of the entire afternoon; after the very nice lady at the checkout offers a grocery pick-up for me, which I readily accept, I get the girls both strapped back in the car, take a deep breath and proceed to drive home...Without my groceries. 


Yes, that's right. We drive a good 200-300 yards from the grocery story before I realize that my groceries are waiting at the pick-up door! 


Me: "Oh Shoot!"


Ava: "What's wrong mommy?"


Me: "I forgot our groceries!"


Ava: "YOu forgot our groceries?!" 


Me: "Yes." 


Ava: "Oh. We better go back and get them."


Me: "Yes, we better." 


We finally got home almost two hours later and I managed to put the girls down for naps and laid in bed for a good 40 minutes myself...just because I felt so beat up. 


I love my children, but I won't lie, I look forward to the days when they are in school and I can grocery shop by myself again. I don't want to rush things...but...


I guess I'll go back to night shopping for now. 


And, when I'm most crabby, I force myself to count my blessings, so here goes:


I AM THANKFUL FOR!!!!
1. a hubby who give great neck rubs and gives them freely.
2. the ability to buy groceries and to have a house to return to with them.
3. an hour and a half of mommy time while the girls nap to collect my thoughts.
4. Bible Study tonight.
5. Our wonderful friends Mark and Sara and their two little girls who were able to visit from Massachusetts this past weekend. Hugs to you all. We miss you already!