Dollar Store Display

I have these brown corduroy maternity pants that have a terrible habit of sliding down with each step. My growing belly provides a ramp of sorts for the waistband to slide down little by little. I don't wear them very often for this reason. I really wish I wasn't wearing them last Tuesday.

It was too many errands for one morning. The excitement of visiting the pet store made the grocery shopping we had to do seem pretty lame and then I dragged an overtired and hungry Emily to the dollar store to get gift wrap supplies. My mistake. I balanced a handful of gift bags, tissue paper, and ribbon in one arm while carrying my diaper bag and holding Em's hand with the other. Emily began pulling in the opposite direction. I used my usually successful tactic of offering two choices -- "Are you going to walk with me or do I need to carry you?" She always chooses to walk with me. And I'm the idiot who forgot that I should always stick with acceptable choices. She fell to the floor and proceeded to melt down in a part-seizure, part-breakdancing tantrum. I quickly whisked her up onto my hip (or what's left of it) and waddled across the store to the carts so I could buckle her in for a time-out. Why didn't I put the gift wrap supplies down?

The problem with having both arms full as I walked in my saggy pants is that by the time I got there, the waist was already at hip-level. Picture a very pregnant woman with her pants on the verge of dropping to the floor, struggling to put a cat in a bathtub and you'll get the idea. Eventually I got her in and quickly pulled my pants up. Emily said, "Mommy, Do you need to take a break?" and I told her, "YES! I'll be at the end of this aisle taking deep breaths." If I'm going to hang on by a thread, I'm at least going to model some anger management strategies while I'm at it.

I LOVE my little girl. I love spending so much time with her and I usually don't have to remind myself of that fact. This was one of those days when I put her down for her "rest time" when we got home, went to my room and fell to the bed in tears because in a few short months there will be TWO of them!

Thank God the rest of the week went more smoothly. I'm learning to explain rewards and consequences BEFORE we get out of the car and will certainly buck up and pay the $4 for a gift bag before dragging her to yet another store next time. I would've paid much more to avoid mooning everyone in the dollar store last week!