The Day I Kicked Parenting’s Ass… It’s The Small Victories {Grocery Shopping}

I must say, I have been blessed with mostly well behaved kids, so I cannot really complain too much. There is one thing that sends chills down my spine and makes my heart drop into my shoes… going grocery shopping with both of them… and Cole for that matter. It is always a mission and it is always the same.. Mikayla gets bored, Cole gets hangry and Knox always has the biggest poo ever. Every single time I promise myself I will never do it again. I like shopping alone… it is a form of me time. You know your life has changed when going to the grocery store by yourself is a form of vacation.

Needless to say, when Cole told me he would be in Stellenbosch most of Saturday I started hyperventilating. That means I have no-one to leave the kids with… and there was no way I couldn’t go because we had pretty much run out of everything.

To some parents this might not mean much, maybe you won’t understand why I am patting myself on the back… but it is a small victory for me – and I’ll take it.

I am very OCD… which makes shopping with anyone else close to impossible. No matter what, I have to start on the left hand side of the store and work my way through every single isle, I will only go grocery shopping at certain times of the day and nothing, I mean nothing can disrupt my routine. My lists are made in order of the layout of the store, I plan our menu for the week in advance so I know exactly what we will need, etc. So… yesterday could have been a disaster, but it wasn’t.

I changed Knox’s nappy just before we left, put him in one of the awesome little cloth diapers I am trying out and got him into his car seat. I dressed Mikayla in her favourite dress and shoes, gave her a juicy bag to eat and made her go to the loo twice. I wrapped my NooNoo Pie Tie around me and put on my pumps and stretchy leggings – comfy enough to run after a toddler if needed!  Finally I got everyone in the car along with both the kids bags filled with extra clothes, nappies, spit cloths, toys and half the house. Everything we would need in the wake of a zombie apocalypse pretty much…

I managed to get a parking quite close to the entrance at Constantia Village (score!) and got Knox out of his car seat and into the NooNoo Pie, got Mikayla out of the car and off we went… Mikayla went into the trolley (cage) and to my surprize… neither of them made a peep. Knox was happy as can be watching the world go by and eventually fell asleep. Mikayla was amazing, singing songs and telling me stories about school and her imaginary sisters. I did get a couple of odd looks, more than usual… I don’t think babywearing has quite caught on in Constantia yet, but that’s okay. I rewarded Mikayla with a little chocolate and the promise of sushi for lunch and as if my mood could not get any better, the lady behind us in the que asked me if I was their au pair… bless her soul. I know she probably thought that I don’t look like a mom for many other reasons, but I am choosing to take it as “Oh My Gosh, you look so young and not soul deprivingly tired!”. So thank you old rich lady, you made my day.

I stood in that checkout line, smugly looking at the other parents with their kids throwing tantrums over sweets and toys, trying to break free from their clutches… I got the kids into the car, and home we went… Mikayla helped me unpack the groceries, we ate our sushi…

and then I accidentally knocked over my Steri Stumpie, which poured down the table and onto Mikayla’s latest artwork. She burst into tears, which woke Knox up and he burst into tears. Mikayla tried to comfort him, he pulled her hair, more tears, more screaming. Then Knox had a little baby vomit, which made Mikayla gag… as always. The rest of the day was chaotic! Needless to say, I got off my high horse very quickly.

I am so lucky, through the good times and bad – I truly have amazing kids! So thank you universe.

Have a lovely Sunday

xoxo

Maz

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