Camp Mommy, Day 3

I'm having a hard time remembering what life was like (ages ago, it seems) when Daniel used to be content just to sit in his stroller and accompany me on my errands. He had no opinion of his own, nor did he feel any sense of urgency to run off in the opposite direction from where I stood. My, how times have changed. These days, running errands with my active, impatient little guy is more a chore than a pleasant outing. Case in point: today's attempt to buy food for dinner.

We started out slowly this morning. Daniel watched "Dora the Explorer" while I made the bed and threw in a load of laundry. He ate breakfast, I made a few phone calls, then I chased him around the house so I could change his smelly diaper. Somehow, it got to be 10:30. We made it out of the house without any tantrums, which was a major triumph in my eyes. Our first stop was Babies 'r Us for swimming armbands and doorknob covers (my little angel is now regularly escaping from the house via the laundry room and garage door). The end-of-season swim selection was discouraging, so we had to check Toys 'r Us. No luck. By then, Daniel was growing tired of being shuttled in and out of the car. And I was tired of shuttling him.

We proceeded to Costco, in the hopes of finding some yummy items for dinner. We browsed around for a little while before heading over to the food section. That's when Daniel started standing up in the shopping cart. So there I am, trying to select a reasonable dinner amongst the throngs of eager Costco die-hards, with one hand gripping Daniel's arm so tight that my shoulder started to ache. It was too intimidating a task, so we fled. I felt like such a Costco failure. How many people actually run out of there with not a single item being purchased?

All I wanted to do was go home, but I still hadn't procured dinner. So we swung by Whole Foods and accomplished what was probably the fastest and cheapest visit I've ever had. Daniel was beginning to melt down, dumping his bag of Goldfish crackers onto the floor and continuing to stand in the shopping cart. Then he threw a fit when I tried to secure him in his car seat. We made it home in one piece, ate a rushed and chaotic lunch, and got ready for naptime. Ahhh, naptime. On days like this, it's heaven on earth.