Admiration for Mothers Who Shop

I see them everywhere, effortlessly pushing a stroller while a serene baby sleeps through the store. And i've even managed a couple of these scenarios myself, when I felt like we couldn't stay in the house any longer. BUT there is an important caveat: each time, I have had help. Either a family member or Heather was there to hold the diaper bag, start the car to cool it off, or unload the groceries from the cart into the car.

Yesterday, I attempted this feat alone. And let's just say that Hallie was not one of the serene babies noted above. She decided she'd had enough of her car seat right about the time we went to the checkout line. To avoid all-out chaos, I removed her from her seat and held her through the check-out line (which, as you can imagine, made getting the 24 pack of Diet Dr. Peppers out of my buggy quite difficult). Once we conquered the checkout line, with some whimpering by Hallie and a little frenetic maneuvering by me, we went to the car. The scene unfolded as you'd imagine--particularly if you imagine me getting the groceries in the trunk, including the 24 Diet Dr. Peppers and a case of bottled waters (which spilled on the pavement in the parking lot), getting Hallie's seat and her diaper bag into the car, and getting Hallie into her seat in the scorching Alabama sun.

Needless to say, I won't be making many more solo visits to the grocery store or Walmart anytime soon. And kudos to the mothers who manage it...particularly those with more than one child under the age of 4. I don't know how you do it.