Nicole (aka "Baby Girl" aka my daughter) LOVES Wegmans. Everytime we come 'round the corner from which she can see the top of the great wide brick building with its turret and large lettered "W-E-G-M-A-N-S" across its front, she gleefully cheers. "Yay!!!" *clap, clap* "Yay!!!"
Wegmans has become our regular ritual. Often, it seems more like a pilgrimage. Wegmans has the best of everything we want for our daily lives: A huge Gluten-free selection, the best Dairy/Casein-free cheese for pizza, Affordable Organic produce and products, Clean bathrooms, Nicole's favorite "Choo-choo" (train), and.... the reason for me it's a pilgrimage.... A fabulous in-house Café with 3 full shots of espresso in every medium latté. Now that's how a 16 oz latté should be made!
Yesterday began a new sort of grocery-shopping adventure with me and Nicole. Generally, given her fussy age, either I go alone or her Gigi or The E.P. (or both) come along to help look after Lil Miss Fussy-pot once she starts up. I rarely go on a full weekly shopping trip with her - but yesterday, I did.
The first thing we did was walk through the buffet section and get her a coconut water (they don't have soymilk or kid-friendly juice options in the to-go fridges of our Wegmans. You can pop a straw in coconut water and minimize spillage, unlike twist-top orange juices.) Then we got a cart, and the juice kept her entertained briefly while she rode in the basket.
She hates to ride in cart kid-seats for more than a couple minutes. I tried to find any of the cool kid-friendly carts for her -- ones with the "car" in the front, or the special seats under the cart's handlebars -- but on this trip, they were all in use by other families. So into the basket Nicole went.
We were barely out of the produce section when she began to get antsy. From produce we go to Nature's Market -- whence started the inevitable quiet request for "Up". She did very well, however, and made it all the way to frozen food/general produce before waving her arms and adamantly shouting "Up! Up, Down!"
So, I put her down. And I looked at her for a second. And then I said, "Nicole, come help Mommy! Would you like to help Mommy? Here, put this" (points at big bag of coffee on the lowest shelf) "in the cart for Mommy!"
For almost the entire rest of the trip, Nicole "helped" me fill our cart to the brim. If it was too high for her to reach, I'd pick her up. She could lift most things above her head and into the cart by herself. She even picked up a gallon of water off the floor (where I'd set it) and put it on the bottom of the cart, with a little help. She is one determined little lady!
In the bulk aisle, she was DAZZLED by her close proximity to the selection of candy. I let her pull one plastic tube of mini M&M's out of a giant yellow M&M's side, and used it to bribe her on out of the aisle. (They make a great sound when you shake them, like a maraca -- that made it easy to draw her attention back to being good! ;)
Checking Out
When we got to the checkout, I took the two small shopping baskets that were in the aisle and flipped them over, making a bench for Nicole to stand on. Then she could help me put things on the belt. I handed her as much as possible - she was so proud to help me! Other customers were commenting on how adorable she was, and how gleefully she helped Mommy.
When I had to move the cart up to pay for everything, and she was left with nothing to do, she started to get antsy. I picked her up and swung her for a second - then picked her up and swung her upside down. Each time the muffled beginnings of a complaint were transformed into a distracted smile. Then Nicole started to crawl on the floor - but she was being quiet, she was staying near the cart, and most importantly, she was NOT pulling candy-bars off the shelves. This was more than one "kind" shopper could handle, however, and so this strange woman proceeded to come try to "help" me because she was AGHAST that I was letting my child's hands touch the floor. (Parents, you all totally understand -- if I had encouraged her to stand up and keep to herself, it would have ended in very loud tears. I mean come on, the kid is only 22 months old.)
...So this kind do-gooder tried to help distract Nicole from the floor. Fortunately, Nicole was actually distracted and just stood there, staring at the stranger talking to her. Kids know passive agressive well, she was giving the woman a look as if to say, "Just what are you trying to tell my Mommy?" Hahaha!
I ended up getting Wegmans' "Helping Hands" to help us to the car. Once we'd checked out, that was too much for Nicole. She wouldn't have the basket, she wouldn't walk with me and I couldn't push the cart and hold her too. That's the first time I've ever had to get help to get the groceries to the car. I am still so proud of her for making it that long, and for being so helpful! As soon as we were in the car, I popped open that little tube of M&M's, put her tray in her lap, and gave her some. That elicited a few more cheers from Nicole! Thank goodness too. =)
Yet another mundane day in our lives... but still an adventure! =)
(Not my child... but might as well be ;)
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