Angie: Ask and Ye Shall Receive

Angie asked about Rhett's breakdown at the Unique Thrift Store (a.k.a "Bizarre Bazaar"--yes, Amanda, we call it that sometimes too because, really, it's so bizarre).

The trip took place on Monday, but it has roots in Sunday. This year, church is at 8:30 in the morning. This is the perfect time for us and Rhett. We love it. As he gets us up around 6:30, it gives us enough time to eat, bathe, and get ready. We are easily able to get our one child to church on time. He happily goes to nursery and then he and Chuck get to go home (I have meetings). Chuck feeds him lunch and puts him down for a nap. When I get home around 1/1:30, Rhett should already be napping.

This did not happen on Sunday. Not only was he still awake when I walked in the door, he chatted in his crib until we got him....at 3. At not even two years old, this kid still needs his naps and we need him to nap. Napping makes for a much happier household. As far as the rest of the afternoon, well, Rhett did okay. A little fussy, but okay. We put him down an hour earlier than normal and he had no problems.

Apparently this didn't make up for the lack of nap, as evidenced by his actions the next day.

Because of still-snowy sidewalks, I'm not able to take Rhett running in the jogging stroller. I hate this for many reasons, but the biggest is that I'm at a loss as to how to spend my mornings with him. Remember, the snow makes anything outdoors impossible so please don't tell me to take him for a walk or to the park because we still can't do those things. I love my son and I love being with him, but I can only play with Little People (Fisher Price Little People that is, not midgets or toddlers) for so long before I go crazy. This particular Monday morning was shaping up to be bad. He got up early and was dressed and fed by 7 a.m. How was I going to spend the five hours until lunch time?! When stores opened at 10, I was dying to get out of the house. We ran to Target and then the grocery store.

These days he hates being in a shopping cart, so I knew I was pushing my luck to add one final trip to the thrift store. But it was Monday--you know, the day where everything is 25% off. I had to go. And when I asked him if he wanted to go to one more store, he said, "yeah." (Nevermind that he says "yeah" to basically everything.)

So. The Thrift Store. He's immediately put into a cart (therefore he's already irked) and we go directly to the little kid clothes. I found a t-shirt, but that's it. Then to the books. We spent a lot of time here and I was reading to him as we shopped because he was starting to get fussy. We found some great books, as evidenced in the previous post. (Angie--I too love the Little Golden Books and buy them whenever I see them there. That particular one was "The Poky Little Puppy"--a personal favorite.) We passed by some toys and of course he wanted every single one. When we're at this store I let him hold one toy at a time and at this point he wanted a horse (which he adorably calls "neigh"). But then he saw a Beanie Baby skunk and wanted that. I was able to get the "neigh" from him and trade it for the skunk. Fairly happy boy.

Then I pushed my luck and I knew it. Having previous success in finding cute dresses, I can't leave the store without checking. We walked over there, skunk in hand, and I began looking. By now he's starting to get very angry. He sees a bright yellow, stupid "Joe Boxer" hat with a smile on it and since he's obsessed with all things "happy" he has to have it. I ask him if I can put the skunk away since he's trading it for the hat and at first he's okay with this. We keep walking. Not 50 feet away, he starts screaming for the skunk. I told him we put it away and that just makes him madder. He's yelling "skunk away" over and over again. I rush to the front of the store, realizing I probably should have left without buying my books, but I couldn't do it. I had spent so much time picking out those books and I knew they wouldn't be there when I could get back on Wednesday. So I stupidly persevered with Rhett screaming the entire time. The store manager even came to see if she could help me. When we were done with the cashier and the cart, he didn't want to walk or be held, just cry. But I know we need to get home ASAP, so I'm dragging him by his armpits out the door. I finally get to my car and am strapping the screaming boy in the seat when a very very helpful lady gave me a granola bar. What a saint! The child is finally pacified!

Of course, that is, he's pacified until his granola bar breaks (as granola bars are wont to do) and he loses it all over again. I get him home, mend the bar, give him another bar for lunch (since it's all he wanted) and put him to bed without even changing a diaper (a diaper that hadn't been changed since morning).

His normal naps last from 1ish until 3ish, and we generally let him wake up on his own. However, at nearly 4 o'clock, I knew that if I wanted a normal bedtime, I had better wake him. And I did. And he went to put fine three hours later. And so did I.

Does anyone want to nominate me for mother of the year? Anyone?