Shopping

The Idea
This morning, I had the fabulous idea of taking the whole family out for a shopping trip. You know, grocery shopping; not leisure shopping. I usually go alone in the evening after all the kids are in bed. But, we had spent most of the long weekend cooped up in the house, and we needed to get out a bit. My boy was a bit sick, I know, but he was definately well enough to go out for a short time. It would cut into naptimes a bit too, but they (the babies) can handle it. Nothing they haven't done before. Anyway, we'd only be out maybe 2 hours at most.

So after lunching the little ones, off we went. When we arrived, hubby left me to unload the kiddies while he went inside to hire one of those cute car buggies. You know, the ones where the kiddies ride around in the bottom while you push it around, and you can put your shopping in the top. We thought the boy would love this!

We were wrong. Me and my big ideas. Hah.

The Fiasco
From the moment he was put into the buggy, he started cracking it. What is his problem now? I thought. Well, we wanted to walk. He doesn't like being restricted or restrained. I had forgotten that. Don't ask me how. Anyway, I thought once we got moving in it, he'd realise how much fun it was. I mean, look! - already my big girls were arguing about who gets to go in the second seat. See? Miss Jane won, since she was smaller. And only because we thought that the boy might notice her sitting in it too, and therefore settle down.

He was still cracking it when we walked inside. We stopped halfway to the supermarket to try and settle him. Didn't work. We bought a chocolate frog to try and sweeten the deal and distract him. Didn't work. We went into the supermarket anyway. He does tend to settle down sooner or later usually. Only not this time.

So we had just walked into the supermarket, and paused in the first part there - the fresh produce area - to try and settle him again. He was still cracking it. He started to cough, as he has been a little bit lately. But then, he vomited.

Note: If this sort of stuff grosses you out and you really can't cope with it, I recommend you skip the next paragraph. Otherwise, I am going to speak very frankly about motherly experiences :P.


La

de

da

de

dee.......

Ok? Moving on...?

He vomited, and I caught it in my hands. What else could I do? We're standing... all six of us... in the middle of the fresh produce department, and my son vomited. Hubby rushed around trying to find something to help clean it up with. All I had was bum wipes from the nappy bag. That had to do. Hubby got some plastic bags from the check out dude nearby to put them in. I cleaned my hands...




Pick up again from here
.....and I cleaned my little man's face, and we turned right around and walked back out of there. And yes, he was still crying. He cried all the way to the baby change rooms. He cried the whole time I tried to clean him up. Hubby went off to buy him some new pants, as the ones he had on were now dirtied. He cried the whole time we waited. I tried singing to him to help settle him. He was ok with that, till I changed the song.

Then he hit me on my face, on my mouth.

That was a shock. A big shock. He has never been violent. Ever. I know he just wanted me to stop, and he has put his hands on my mouth to do that before, but never by hitting me. Never like this. This really upset me today. I am hoping it was a once off because he was sick.

The Extra Stress
Anyhow, I changed his clothes, and hubby took him and 2 other girls out to the car, while I returned the buggy. But when I went to get Miss Jane out of her seat, she was stuck. I couldn't get her out.

*sigh* STRESS!

I tried for 10 minutes to get her unstuck out of there. Nearly in tears by the end of it. But we managed. And the dear lady didn't charge us for the buggy, since I never got my shopping done. God bless her. We went home, cleaned the boy up properly, and then put the little ones to bed.

Comfort and Support
Pottering around in the kitchen afterwards, my husband came along. He put his arms around me there and we just held each other. Just for a minute.


The Shopping Trip
Later on in the day, my SIL came around with dinner already cooked for us, ready to babysit so hubby and I could spend some time out doing the shopping together. We knew she was coming around, but dinner was such a nice suprise. So off we went, hubby and I, and we took along our eldest girl for some mummy/daddy time too. So I guess in the end, we got our shopping done.

Things were much quieter this time. But because I didn't get a pic of my son cracking it in his little red car buggy, I thought I'd share what we bought on impulse tonight. Come on.... everyone does it sometimes... impulse purchases!! I found it rather amusing, the things that hubby bought and the things that I bought.

Hubby's stuff: Snacky snacks! Crackers, gourmet cheeses, twiggy sticks, chips, and Lemon Cheesecake flavoured yoghurt for ONE! Haha! To his credit, they were all on special, and some of them were bought with the notion of sharing them with me in mind.

My stuff: Quick oats - in the hopes that my son will eat porridge again (he used to love it, but now doesn't like the 'lumpy bits' in the texture), malt extract - 'cause I've never seen it before, and want to try baking with it, and the biscuits also in case I get the urge to bake with them.

See? He is so selfish and I am so family orientated! *halo*


...no, that is not a biscuit packet you hear opening in the background.

...no, I didn't just take a bite!


...ok, maybe just one bickie. But I can still bake with the rest!!

xx