Today I had to take Michael to Target so that he could pick out a birthday present for his friends' party this evening. Temperatures were hovering in the upper 30's, so it was time to break out the heavy duty coats. We said our goodbyes to daddy; and were off. During the 15 minute ride there Nick manages to take off the brand new shoes that we bought him last week. We have yet to find a pair of shoes that he cannot wrangle out of. Not even the lace-up high tops. They might buy us a few more minutes at most;but they too come off. He has also managed to take off his socks, and his jacket. A regular Houdini this one is! We get to Target, and I spend the first few minutes outside putting clothing back on my four yr old. Today I am very thankful it is not raining!
We walk in and the store is chaos with all the holiday shoppers. I give it 20 minutes before we are on the verge of meltdown. I opted for a carry basket instead of a cart and told Michael to get it for me. Hoping against hope that this was not a decision I would regret. We had barely made it to the toy aisle when things started to fall apart. Michael accidentally hit Nick in the head with the basket; and Nick was wailing.
"He should watch where he is going! It is not my fault!" as I console Nick, who is carrying on like he has lost a limb. "Say you're Sorry!" I tell Michael. "Tell him to watch where he is going!" he retorts back. "Say you are sorry or you are not going to the birthday party!". He forces his lips to say "Sorry". We continue on with our journey-trying to think of what the kid would like. Michael is a few steps ahead, I am back with Nick who is poking at all the bright packages with his pointer finger. In my head at this very second I am thinking this classifies as a "point" of some sort(and no, I don't care what all the experts say right now, after TWO YEARS this is as close to a point as we have gotten; let me have this one.) Nick finds one of his very favorite needle toys-and I have to be the bad guy to say "All done" and take it away. You can imagine what comes next. Total loss of control. Fortunately, through the years, I do not get as flustered as I used to. Afterall, I have endured years worth of countless meltdowns-nothing shocks this momma anymore. After a few minutes, Nick regains composure(maybe realizing the fact that we are not about to leave?) and finds an Elmo doll to comfort him the rest of the way. Fine. Whatever. Works. We find our items, and we are even carrying home some birthday ribbon(don't ask, it was cheaper than the Elmo doll ok?) We made it home in one piece, and we accomplished our goal. It was a successful day!
5 comments:
We had a similar shoe removal issue. My mom remedied it with the infinitely evil behind the ankle strategy. She'd buy adult sized laces for children's shoes, than lace it as normal until reaching the top when she'd go once behaind, once in front, and then tie the knot extra tight behind. Took way more dexterity than I had to wrangle out of that one. Of course it also took her much longer to untie when the shoes actually had to come off. But it at least works when shoes are an absolute necessity...
Thank goodness you made it back home! Yes, I've been doing more and more shopping online myself because of this kind of stuff with my boys. Trevor is in the terrible twos, and Ryan - well I never know how he is going to be in a store!
msmichelel;HA-HA! Yes, I am sooo glad we made it back home in one piece. All in all, the outing was a success. Nick even put the ribbon on the conveyor belt at the check out when asked to! And without screaming! That was a huge plus in my book. I am a huge fan of online shopping this time of year-also because I hate the crowds as well. I can't imagine how this all seems to little guys like ours!
Cale; your blog is excellent! And I will have to give that shoe idea a try. Did your mom do that with high-tops or regular shoes? or with both? I have added your blog to my list. I think it is wonderful to get your point of view-I will continue reading it; I think it is wonderful!
Is a high-top like a boot? If you've ever seen the Starbury shoes at Steve and Barry's, those were the kind that worked best (they're sort of like boots but made of shoe material). But it worked with sneakers too.
And thanks!
Well God bless you for actually going to Target with TWO kids! I don't know how you do it. I only have one- and we have a similar story at Target. These days I either shop online or she stays in the car with my mother, watching dvd's. :-)
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