Sadly, my parents left yesterday, after a wonderful 5-week stay in Salt Lake. I can't begin to explain how helpful and enjoyable it was to have them around to spend time with the kids and give me a hand... with everything!
Keith also left yesterday, for a four-day conference in Las Vegas (like it couldn't have been an event in some boring place. No, he's in Vegas conference-going and eating/drinking/reveling with a bunch of fun derm friends). And I'm home alone with a 5-week old who wants to be held all the time, a rambunctious toddler, a big project for work, and crappy, unseasonably cold weather. What? No - I'm not bitter :-)
So anyway, after feeling a little trapped in the house yesterday, today I attempted a solo outing to Target with Luke and Anna. I anticipated pain, but I really needed a few things, and it was chilly and snowy (yes, snowy on the last day of April), so a Target trip was a decent option for getting out of the house.
As usual, it was difficult getting Luke in and out of the car seat. He wanted to "drive, drive, drive." And also as usual, he wouldn't stay in the shopping cart (Target really should get the carts with a kiddie car on the front). He actually did pretty well for the first ten minutes, following me up and down the aisles. Then he started doing his own thing. But as long as I could see and/or hear him, it was still working ok. Then he kicked into full Luke gear. I saw him run by my aisle, giggling in delight and waving a long plastic strip--twice the size of him--around in the air. It was the thing that goes on the front of a shelf, the clear covering that holds the price / product info tags in place. He started shouting "hockey player... hockey player" with the plastic thing slapping against shelves and an unsuspecting woman. I calmly followed him (if you've spent any time with Luke, you'll know that chasing him quickly just triggers a mad chase. He's thinks you're playing with him... like a dog.) So, I calmly followed him up and down a few aisles. I lost sight of him when he ducked in between some clothing racks, but then I saw the long plastic strip knocking some dresses off a display, and snuck up on him. I really wish I had video of this scene. Maybe I can ask for the security tape:-)
So anyway, when I had a handle on him and pried the thing from his hand, I took him to the aisle that has potty training equipment. That's one of the things I wanted to pick up. He loves taking things off store shelves, which is usually annoying, but this time it was fine, as I wanted him to take interest in the potties. He put two down on the floor, sat on one... then sat on the second and said (in his slow, determined voice) "I LIKE IT." I thought that was great... must be a sure sign that he's ready for toilet training. (Long story short on that one -- when we got it home he refused to sit on it and went as far as to throw it around the house).
And a few minutes later...
I had let him take one of his toy cars to the store, as a distraction. So he started hunting for and picking up things off the ground (pieces of paper, a penny, some pieces of cookie that another kid must have dropped) and stuffing them in his car. He does this all the time at home as my parents can tell you. They saw leaves, rocks, toilet paper and chick peas all stuffed in his various vehicles. I don't mind it at home, but in Target, while I was trying to finish the shopping and get out of there before a meltdown, it was really slowing us down.
By this time it was getting close to his nap, so he became more unreasonable. I had to pick him up and carry him to the registers, while pushing the cart with all of our stuff and Anna in her carseat. And he's getting really heavy.
But, I made it out alive, and proved to myself that solo outings with two kids is possible, though not ideal.
Otherwise, being a single parent is going fine, though I don't wish for it or recommend it for a long period of time. I'm sure by tomorrow afternoon I'll be counting the minutes until Keith returns.
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