I stole this from one of my FAVORITE BLOGS and as I was reading it all I could do was laugh because this is SO me everywhere I go. If you are one of my besties or family you already know this and I LOVE you for being so patient and helpful all of the time... so here it goes...
The other day, against my better judgement, I took the kids to Wal-Mart because I needed to pick a prescription and my husband wasn't going to be getting home until after the pharmacy closed. I say "against my better judgement" because it was looking pretty stormy overhead, it was the afternoon, and we live in Florida-this means there's about 99.99% chance it's going to rain. I had the kids in the triple stroller, but I did manage to get us inside the store before the sky opened up. I got in, dropped off my prescription and was told it would be about a half hour, so I decided to get a little minor shopping while we waited. I had to grab a shopping cart, so I was pushing the kids in one hand, and pulling the shopping cart behind with the other. And of course, carrying my giant diaper bag, because I've been warned never to put your bag in the cart as someone will undoubtedly snatch it.
Now, I have done this maneuver before in the grocery store, but not in Wal-Mart. That's a new level of insanity there. Instead of doing a little "light shopping", I ended up filling the cart. I figured while I was there, I might as well do our grocery shopping for the week as long as the kids were happy. I picked up the prescription, checked out, and at that point I saw that it was indeed pouring rain outside. People were standing in front of the doors, waiting for rides because they don't want to get wet. Personally, I am not the type to be afraid of getting wet, but of course, I did have the munchkins with me. I decide to wait for a few minutes, but the longer we waited, the more crowded (and smoky) the entrance area was getting, and the kids weren't happy. We were getting a lot of stares and questions. The fact that we live in a big tourist area means that everyone travels to WalMart with their entire family, so there were at least 50-60 people crowded around the entrance to WalMart.
I realized that I actually did have the rain cover for the kids stroller with me. (Only because on initially setting up the stroller, I had placed it in the basket and never moved it. It's quite unusual for me to actually have an item exactly when I need it.) Sadly, I didn't have the canopy on the stroller that it fits over, so I would have to just drape it over the handle and over their heads. This would work for the boys in back but my daughter, Lily, in the front, would end up getting wet. I recalled that last week, when I took her to Disney, she got soaked and had absolutely no problem with it. In fact, I think she liked it.
I wasn't parked too far away (from what I rememebered).. so I decided to make a run for it. While pushing the triple stroller, pulling a full shopping cart, and wearing flip-flops- do you see where this is going?. The spectators saw me preparing for battle and were all abuzz. Did I mention that I wasn't 100% sure where I parked, but I just knew the general vicinity? I got the kids all wrapped up in their little bubble and off I went into the downpour.
I built up quite a bit of momentum running with a triple stroller and a full shopping cart, but luckily I managed to locate the vehicle pretty quickly and avoid crashing into it. I pried the keys out of Lily's hands (where they had been for the entire shopping trip), and began frantically pushing the buttons to automatically slide the side doors open. (Did I mention I drive a supercool Toyota Sienna?) I hear the beeps, but the doors are not opening. I quickly snatched Lily out of the front of the stroller, thinking I am about to put her in the car, as I was still hitting the buttons. But the door was still not opening. None of the doors were opening!
Suddenly from behind us I saw a blue beach ball rolling by in a newly formed stream in the parking lot... it looked familiar. I thought to myself, "Hmmm.. that kinda looks like the one we got at a fall festival last year... wait a second, it is our ball! What the?"
I stepped back and about 5 spaces down, there is our car, with balls and toys blowing around, because of course the doors are wide open. Someone with a decidedly identical blue Sienna van had parked in the same row, blocking my view of our van. The doors were opening when I hit the buttons, I just happened to be standing at the wrong car.
Of course, now I had Lily in my arms, (still getting poured on), the boys are sitting their in the bubble wondering what the heck is going on, our groceries are getting soaked, and I'll be darned if I'm going to let our beach ball get away! I ran after that, grabbed it, and realized I have to put Lily in the shopping cart, because she will definitely not want to be put back in the stroller, and I can't hold, her, push the stroller and pull the cart. I would need at least one more arm for that feat. I was ready for her to freak out, but no- she thought that was fabulous fun. Which is good, because if there was a screaming child involved in this story, I might have gone over the edge.
I got us to the car, which by now was pretty darn wet, since those doors have been open for a few minutes now- got the kids in their seats, chucked in all the groceries, and away we went.
Picking up a prescription never used to be this complicated, you know?
AND so here is a photo of Jerry O'Connell demonstrating the stroller/grocery cart maneuver. Look familiar?
