The other day at dinner, right after we all sat down to eat, Teda said, "It's very fun that we're having family." She said that with a sweet little smile on her face, and it just melted my heart! I agreed with her completely- family time is so special and a treasure to me. :)
I went to Trader Joes yesterday, and it was an adventure. First of all, I was at the grocery store getting ingredients for a meal I was going to make for some friends we had coming over last night. (I made yummy chicken and pasta with pesto sauce, and it turned out great!)... but some of the ingredients seemed a bit pricey to me, and I heard I could get them cheaper at Trader Joes. Here was my dilemma- it was 12:30pm, and 30 minutes from naptime. Do I just pay the extra money and get them right there where I was, or should I drive a little down the street and save some money? I probably wasted 15 minutes just debating in my head about it... I went back and forth about it until finally I decided I would just go to Trader Joes for my basil and pine nuts. Nuts is right - I was nuts for doing this! Anyways, I get the kids in the car and tell them we were going to one more store and they were doing good.
We get there, and Teda had to go to the bathroom, so we head back to the bathroom. That in an of itself spells trouble because I had us all go into the big one, and Dane is at that age where he just touches and gets into EVERYTHING. He's a curious little one, and I don't blame him. He's figuring this world out by using his senses, but sometimes that is so ANNOYING to me and I have little understanding in the moment about it.... back to the story. We're in the bathroom- Teda goes and washes her hands, then I had to go too (while I had Jett strapped to me in the baby carrier- the things a mom does!)... and all the while, I'm repeatedly telling Dane, "Don't touch that.....please don't touch anything Dane........ew gross Dane, I said don't touch anything, there's lots of germs in here.......DANE I said don't touch- I'm sick of you not listening!" And to my shame I spanked his hand out of anger, and he knew it. He went on to say, "You said.... (and he acted it out and spanked his own hand)" And I said, "Yes, I did because you weren't listening and you were touching everything when I asked you not to." Now, is that just so bad- I start out calm and work myself into a tizzy and get so upset until I feel like I'm going to burst with frustration. I'm working on that. .... so after the bathroom, we went into the store for a few things.
They have little carts that the kids can drive around, and I decided to let Teda and Dane each have one........and thus begins the adventure. At first I thought, this is so cute and such a great idea! And the kids LOVED it. Dane immediately went over to an item on his level, and put it into his cart. And I went over and put it back and let him know we weren't going to put things in the cart. And I couldn't find the basil......asked for help. Then I couldn't find the pine nuts.......asked for help. All the while, Dane is running his cart into the barrel that has fruit in it, and cracking himself up! And Teda is trying to tell him to stop (she's my little rule follower), and she's getting so annoyed with him. And I went over and told him that I'd have to take it away if he did that anymore. Then we went down a few more aisles (which is tricky because the kids even when they walk without a cart tend to not look where they're going and sometimes run into things... now put a cart with them, and they're dangerous!) So I'm constantly saying, watch where you're going, go straight, stay with me........come on Dane, keep going. Some people thought it was cute, and I'm sure some thought it was not. I did think it was cute, but I was trying to do so many things at once and didn't allow myself to enjoy it like I wish I would've.
Teda and Dane thouroughly enjoyed that grocery trip probably more than any other we've been on because they got to be like big people and have carts. Teda looked so grown up, and loved it. Dane loved it too, but for different reasons. Lessons I learned from this:
1. Next time I go to Trader Joes, I think I'll just take Teda with me until Dane gets a little older, and then I can just focus on one child. That would make for a MUCH smoother time.
2. I really need to prep my kids before we go somewhere of what we're going to do, and what my expectations are, and consequences if they don't obey.
3. RELAX and enjoy the ride. What a neat time I could've had if I would've just thrown all my "expectations" (and I know my expectations will rarely be met, and that's okay with me- my kids are so little, and they're so sweet and they just are so loving and want to be loved).... just relax and love your kids Lisa! So that's my plan. It's a good thing that God gives unlimited chances and is so forgiving because I mess up so much. But it's all good, and I'm excited for another chance to enjoy live and love others. :)
1 comment:
Wow - I'm really behind on your blog! Seriously, basil and pine nuts are MUCH cheaper at TJs. The issue is that you'd pay the same at Fry's, but get about 10% of the package amount. No joke, I've checked.
Also, I feel your pain with the potty thing. Ryan used to go to the bathroom at TJs EVERY TIME WE WENT for like 2 months. It drove me nuts. I think he just liked going through the big doors.
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