It was the perfect arrangement. I needed to buy 2 new car seats, and the kids wanted to pool their Chanukah gelt to buy the coolest sets of Lego. We all wanted to go to Target. What a great plan!
So we hopped into the car, me and my second in command – my daughter – and my 5 little boys. My oldest was out with my husband.
I entered Target and noticed mistake number one. Don’t ever go to Target in mid December, unless you absolutely have to. Every register, every aisle, and every inch of store was filled to max capacity.
But not wanting to disappoint the kids, I made a quick decision that it wasn’t a big deal and off we went. We divided into two teams; half went to the Lego aisle, the other half (the two that fit in the cart) joined me and my daughter in the car seat search.
After some quick deliberating, I hoisted box #1 into the cart…but that took away the two year olds spot. Out he went and in went box #2…but the top seat needed to be folded, so out went the one year old. With the baby in one arm and my daughter firmly holding my 2 year old’s hand, I managed to navigate the shopping cart, which I couldn’t see over the top of, customer service where they so kindly agreed to watch it for me while I finished shopping.
We got a new cart, got the kiddies settled, and headed to the Lego aisle.
Decisions, decisions. These were big life decisions.
As we negotiated and discussed which Lego set was truly the best one and appropriate for our home, this little sweet big eyed girl with glasses passed with her very obviously stressed mom.
“Mom, look how many kids they have!!” I heard her whisper loudly, as only kids know how. The look of complete mortification on her mother’s face was pretty comical, as she continued to look straight ahead as if she didn’t notice us.
I wanted to ease her tension, but with 6 little people talking to me all at once and the mom refusing to make eye contact I couldn’t really say anything to her.
What did I want to tell her? I was just going to ease her fears and tell her don’t worry, it’s not contagious. And this was on purpose.
As we continued to narrow down the decisions, little-girl-with-big-eyes apparently snuck away from her mom and came back to peek again, remarking loudly, “Wow, there’s so many!”
Her poor mortified mom. It’s ok, mortified mom. This is why we love kids. Because they’re not scared to say what they’re thinking!
It was time to head to the register, and I admit I had no plan.
No plan how I was going to push a cart that I couldn’t see over and a cart that had two little guys in it. And my helpers were not interested in helping, and the truth is, they weren’t really fit for the job.
They couldn’t see over the cart either, and I figured I’d knock down less things than they would, so I better steer that one.
And a cart with two little guys…pushing 60+ pounds is a bit much for them.
But we got this far, I wasn’t going to give up.
And after all, one of the car seats were on sale, I needed to buy it today!
We made it to the register, swiping the sides of only three racks.
We checked out and I thankfully had the great idea to ask if someone could help me out to the car. What do you know, it was a service they offered!
We got to the car, which the kids were very excited to point out to this nice Target employee – “Yes, that’s our van! The one with the dent on the side that Mommy….”
I tried to talk over their description of every scratch and mark on the van, chatting with my fellow cart-pusher as if I was taking a stroll in the park.
We reached our destination and I opened the trunk…forgetting that it was not empty.
I tried not to show what I was thinking, which was How in the world is this going to fit, what was I thinking?
Holding my pride in check, we pushed and pulled and squeezed and maneuvered…and got the trunk door closed. I couldn’t see out the back window and the front passenger was a car seat box, but it was doable.
We did it! Although it wasn’t simple, our mission was accomplished.
And when you’re doing things with your kids, now that’s something to be proud of.
Little Yellow Notepad 