Tag Archives: Target

What About Today?

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We are off and running.

Up at 6:30 because I thought I heard something in the living room.  Ended up being the dog.

Brock woke up because I was awake.  We laid in bed together, quietly, enjoying the morning.  His alarm went off, and I beat him to the shower… if I get up before Ronan, I get a real shower!

Got Ronan up – he had soaked through another diaper.  I don’t now how many nights in a row this is.  I’ve lost count.  I’m tired of washing sheets.  I was just at Target, and I didn’t think of buying some size 6 diapers for overnights… I guess I should go back.

Anyways.  Got Ronan up, brought him down stairs where his breakfast was already waiting for him.  Little known fact about Ronan: he is SO HUNGRY when he wakes up, he can’t wait for you to get something ready for him.  He’s sort of shaky and wobbily, and desperate for something to eat.  I get food ready before I head up the stairs; he’ll patiently wait in his room until I come get him, but once he’s up, he wants FOOD.

Ronan and I sat on the couch and enjoyed Peanut Butter and Eggo waffles.  He’s naked at this point because I take off his soaked through diaper, but he wont let me put a new one on until he’s eaten something (see above.)  Dad comes out from his shower, and Ronan wants up.  Wraps his arms around Brock’s legs, and starts lifting his feet in the air.  I swear, the kid will be able to climb up on his own soon.  Brock picks him up and walks around with him for a few minutes.  Hands him something he really wants… ends up being a cup of Queso from Moe’s last night.  I let him play with it for a few minutes after Brock leaves, but he’s going to make a mess, and he wont eat it.

So I take it away.

And the MELTDOWN commences.  These are the kinds of tantrums you see on TV.  He screams, he throws himself around, he writhes on the floor.  I got up to go to the kitchen to find something else to offer him for breakfast (assuming he was still hungry)… and he followed me.  YES, totally like that kid that followed his parents with his tantrum as they walked away.  When I came back into the living room, he followed me back and threw himself on the floor again.

I showed him what I had for him to eat (a granola bar, or raisins) and he walked over and tried to hit me.

The hitting.  Oh please, please parents of children older than 5 – tell me your toddlers hit and then grew out of it.  Tell me hitting is a natural form of frustration that he will learn to curb, and my child isn’t a monster that will continue to get worse and worse.

I sat him down, told him hitting was unacceptable, and that he could have the granola bar if he said please.  He signed please while crying, and I opened it and handed it to him.  Crisis averted, happy again.  Talking, squealing, sitting on my lap and chatting.  Do I dare take a trip to the grocery store?

Fifteen short minutes later, Ronan was dressed and content, and we were out the door.  I dread trips to Target.  I hate grocery shopping (even BEFORE I had to check all the labels.)  We’re trying Ronan on a Dairy Free diet for 6 weeks to see if it helps clear up his Reflux, which has continually gotten worse.  We walked up and down all of the aisles while I checked products I’ve never looked at before to see if they contain any dairy.

Ronan was sweet, calm, patient and so so good.  He sat happily in the buggy the whole time.  He chatted with me.  He laughed when I did silly things.  He gave me kisses, and asked to see products as I put them in the cart.  He didn’t cry, whine or fuss even ONE TIME.  As I walked towards the check out counter, he asked for some Raspberries – signed Please, and Eat.  I opened the package and let him snack while I checked out (unwashed, I know!  GASP!), and he waved to the check-out lady.  I told him he was ‘so sweet’.

She said to me, “Do you know who has nice kids?  Nice parents… he just takes after you.”

And it made my whole day.

Another First.

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Woo boy, this is a fun one to share.

Ronan started walking yesterday.  REALLY walking.  I have some footage of it, but I still haven’t caught him walking around when we’re not looking – the times where it doesn’t look like he’s just doing it to impress us.  I’ll post a video of that as soon as I get it.

But that’s not really what this blog post is about.  This one is about Ronan’s first public melt down.

We went up to have lunch with Brock a little late, because Ronan had a super long nap.  I would never complain about that.  But we didn’t get up to Brock’s work until around 2:15.  We had lunch, dropped him off back at work, and headed home.  I wanted to stop at Target even though I could tell that Ronan was getting sleepy in the back seat.  I just had a FEW quick things to grab, so I decided to chance it.

Parked close to the front doors at Target, grabbed a cart and ran it.  No pit stops, just directly to the items we needed, and then to the cash register line.  We were there for less than 15 minutes at that point.

Int he line, the woman checking out in front of me started to talk about how beautiful my baby was.  She was talking to him, and he was smiling back like the big ol’ ham that he is.  Everyone started noticing, and he was showing off – laughing and chatting at whoever would pay attention.  I just laughed and told him he was being a big flirt, and pulled out my wallet to pay for my purchase.  Before she left, the other woman remarked, “What a GOOD baby!”

I got up to the payment area where the little credit card slider is, and Ronan did what he always does.  He grabbed the ‘pen’ and started ‘writing’ on the tablet.  I let him, because I always do, and asked him, “Are you gonna pay for mommy?  How nice!”  Of course, everyone laughed.

But then came the moment where I had swiped my card, and needed to type in my pin.  I started to pull the pen out of his fingers, and he protested immediately.  He grunts very loudly when he’s displeased.  Instead of just taking it from him, I handed him my bank card – usually off-limits, so often a good bargaining chip.  He took the bank card… but didn’t let go of the pen.  With so many people in line behind me, I had to be firm.  I pried his fingers open, and took the pen.

He started SCREAMING.

Not crying, not hollering, but high pitch, top of his throat SCREAMS.  I don’t think I’ve ever heard him pitch a fit so loudly.  I typed in my pin, and he reached forward and grabbed then pen again.  I wasn’t quick enough to avoid him.  He stopped crying, but I wasn’t done checking out yet.  I had to hit all the buttons, and you can’t just use your finger.  So I had to take it away AGAIN to push that I accepted the charge, and that Yes, I wanted it all on the card, and No I didn’t want any cash back.

His screams this time made the first fit look mild.

His face started turning red, and I could see the back of his throat.  Everyone around me started laughing uncomfortably… you know it’s kind of funny to see a kid throw a fit, but it sort of sucks at the same time.  The check out girl started trying everything she could to distract him – handing him stickers, trying to make him laugh, sticking her tongue out at him.  Nothing worked.  He screamed until the moment we walked out of Target and the cold air hit him in the face.  There were tears streamed down his cheek, and his nose was a runny mess of snot.

I asked him, “Was that really necessary?  I guess we’ll never push nap time again!”  I didn’t really expect to be that embarrassed when it happened to me.  I couldn’t do anything!  Just finish my purchase and walk out of the store.

I guess, though, at least we’ve got one of those under our belt… and maybe it wont be so bad the next time it happens.