Grocery Store Hell

Let me start by saying that I set myself up for trouble by going to the market today, but we were out of milk and I didn't have a choice. The cards were stacked against me; Donny is sick, it is Saturday and a snow storm is hours away. Before we even leave the house the meltdown begins, Donny insists on wearing his fire boots which are in the car. I carry him to the car and then must locate his fire helmet similar to the one pictured above. The helmet is authentic and weights above five pounds. He insists on wearing it into the store and wants to walk since he is the fire chief. I go against my better judgement and allow him to walk, I NEVER let him walk in the store.

When we finally make our way across the packed parking lot, I pull out my list and pray this will be quick. Donny wants to help and does this by walking over to the display of apples which are already packed in totes. He picks up a tote and knocks over two trying to get the tote in the cart. Apples are everywhere and people are staring. While I clean up said apples, he tells me he is off to get some tomatoes. I put the apples back and grab a fresh tote, which comes back to haunt me later. I try to put Donny in the cart, but he arches his back and starts screaming with tears streaming down his face. Abigail doesn't want to be left out of the fun, so every time Donny screams so does she and she continues to scream until she is in her car seat. I have been very fortunate up until this point, Donny has never behaved like this before and I know it is because he is sick. I am trying to calm him down when this woman walks up to us, pulls out her cell phone and tells Donny that she is calling Santa to tell him what a naughty boy he is being and not to bring him presents. I am very proud of my behavior because I didn't smack the lady like I wanted. I explained that he wasn't feeling well and this behavior was very unusual for him. My explanation didn't seem to matter because every time we ran into her, she whipped out her phone and pretended to speak to Santa.

I finally get to the car and am loading the groceries when I notice that the entire bag of apples is rotten. I return to the store and notice there are now two women soliciting for domestic abuse in front of the store. We wait at the customer service counter for a few minutes, when it is finally our turn the lady hands me five dollars and some change. I decide to buy a Mega ticket with the five and leave the store. As I walk out, I remember the domestic violence woman and feel bad that I spent all my cash on the Mega ticket. I get over it real quick when one of the women tells me what a beautiful family I have and that the children have great lungs. She was so mocking me.

On the ride home, Donny tells me he feels really, really bad for what happened. Then he said, "Mama if you want to transfer me or fire me, I completely understand." I know that he is quoting a line from Prep and Landing but it still made me smile.