When Good Intentions Go Bad

Today started out as a lovely day -- crystal clear skies, brisk autumn air, breathtaking fall foliage. After attending a MOMS Club meeting/Halloween celebration this morning, I decided to venture over to the King Of Prussia mall because I needed some things at Nordstrom. While I was there, I figured I'd stay for lunch with Daniel, thereby making it easier to put him down for his nap upon returning home. Boy, was that the wrong call!

Daniel has a had a slight cold all week, but it hasn't affected his eating or sleeping, so I thought he was well enough to be out and about. It's always a judgement call: Is a runny nose reason enough to sequester oneself inside the house? Today it wasn't. I could tell that Daniel was tired as we ran our errands, but I thought some food would perk him up. We got situated at the Nordstrom Cafe, and I fed Daniel some applesauce while we waited for our food to arrive. He seemed fine, scribbling on his placemat with a crayon and periodically feeding himself Goldfish from his Snack Trap. Perhaps I had made the mistake of ordering him a meal from the kids' menu. But you have to start sometime, right?

When his juice arrived in a sealed plastic cup with a big, plastic bendy straw, everything began to fall to pieces. Daniel was mesmerized by the cup, but didn't really understand how to hold it since it had no handles. When I tried to help, he freaked out. I allowed him to pull out the straw and play with it, but he only wanted to put it back in the cup and hold the cup himself. I was having visions of the entire cup of juice spilling in his lap, soaking his clothing, and forcing me to pony up $60 for a pair of pants from the Nordstrom kids' department. Not going to happen. So I took the cup away, causing him to burst into tears. The crying only made his already drippy nose worse. I couldn't pull out the tissues fast enough to keep up with his snot.

When he finally calmed down, I tried to encourage him to eat some food. He wanted no part of the fruit and cheese platter I had ordered him. I cut up some strawberries and placed them on the table. He turned up his nose. I managed to get him to eat some cheese, but half of it ended up in his lap or on the floor. He began to get frustrated, his irritation exacerbated by his clogged nose. He began loudly banging his sippy cup against the table. I took it away and, again, he cried. By that point, he was an unstoppable train wreck. He pulled the paper placemat off the table, sending pieces of strawberry and cheese flying into the air. I took a deep yoga breath.

After this little display of anger, he seemed to calm down. I put a cracker in front of him, and he actually took a bite! Then he began to cough. And choke. And gag. Can you guess what came next? Yup -- vomit, everywhere. Luckily, his bib and my napkins caught most of it. We were both finished with our lunch. I quickly cleaned him up, catching a sympathetic glance from the old lady at the next table. Once Daniel was back in his stroller, he was fine. He fell asleep in the car and transferred nicely into his crib once we got home. Phew!

As of 3:00, Daniel is napping peacefully and I'm relaxing in front of the computer. Of course, I could use a drink right about now.