First things first, last weekend, while in Coppell, TX, I ate so much food. And, I ate so much food I don’t normally eat. The result? A week later, and I am full of – well, let’s just say I’m constipated. No worries, that’s all I have to say about that.

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<== See that picture? My youngest took that picture. Notice the dress I am wearing. My sister refers to it as a ‘Holly Hobbie‘ dress. I’ve made ‘Holly Hobbie‘ a link, in case you are not familiar with her. And, Holly has been ‘updated’ since she was first created. I’m not so sure Holly would wear the dress nowadays. Nonetheless, I am wearing that very dress today.

When I dropped the boys off at Suzann’s house, one of the girls said to me, “Ms. Lenore, do you have your nightgown on?” *sigh* She’ll learn about comfortable clothes when she gets older. I’m certain of it. In the meantime, I love living in the ‘no waistband zone’.

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While in Texas, I caught up with a friend of mine. She has a son, age 6, and she was telling me how he wanted to go shopping with her on one particular day. While chatting, I told her that I rarely take my boys with me when I am shopping.

If I need to go to the grocery store or Target for just a few items, I may consider taking one of the boys. But, for a trip involving more than 15 minutes and 5 items? Never. I just don’t want to deal with the disciplining while in the store, the request to buy things we don’t need, etc. Yes, I am lazy. Seriously, though, do you think the boys feel neglected because I don’t drag them with me? I think not.

Well, last night I needed some items at the grocery store. While eating dinner, I asked Charlie, “Charlie, would you like to go with me to Kroger?”

“Sure.” He replies.

“I want to go.” Joe says.

ACK. Both boys? At the same time? In the same store? I start sweating. Can I handle it? Immediately, I flash back to their younger years, when I would make quick runs to the grocery store, while pushing them around in the double stroller. ‘Would they still fit in the stroller?’ I ask myself silently. ‘How would I fit all the milk and produce I need in the stroller?’ I wonder.

“Gosh, Joe,” I begin. “I thought you were going to stay home and bake cookies with Daddy.”

“Oh. Daddy knows how to bake cookies. I want to go with you.” He says confidently.

“Well. I’m not sure that will work.” I say. Then I wonder how I would fit both boys in one cart, while also having room for the items we needed.

“Would it be too hard for you, you mean?” Joe asks. [It is safe to say my kids know me well.]

I laugh and immediately realize my idiocy. “Well Joe,” I respond. “I bet I could manage it just fine.”

After cleaning up the dinner dishes, the boys and I head to Kroger. Though the boys were unaware of what we were buying, our list was simple: milk, soy milk, bananas, apples, carrots and yogurt. We did not have to go up and down the various aisles for what we needed. I say that, because I am not sure I the story would be the same if we had traveled up and down each aisle.

As we entered the produce section, both Joe and Charlie were super excited to see the bananas and yelled, “Mommy! Bananas! Can we get bananas?” Next to the bananas were blueberries. “Oh Mommy,” says Joe. “Can we get some blueberries?”

Then I moved on to the carrots. “Oooh, I love carrots.” Charlie says. “Can we get some carrots?” Then Joe chimes in, “Suzann makes carrot juice. Can we buy some carrots for Suzann, so we can have carrot juice tomorrow?”

Now, while I was in the milk section, the cart was stopped right by a beer display. “Look Mommy.” Joe says. “Beer. You like beer. Are you going to get beer?” *sigh*

Again, if we had gone down all the aisles, I can’t say my boys wouldn’t have asked for junk food, too. However, I must admit, I was so proud of them at the store. And, part of me was proud of myself, my husband and Suzann. We surround the boys with good and fresh food. I think it is clear they are paying attention, and they seem to enjoy what they eat. To hear the inflection of excitement in their voice when asking for bananas, carrots and blueberries … well, I was a happy Mom for certain.

Oh, and Joe asked for pears, too. But, I didn’t see any pears, so I wasn’t able to provide him with that specific treat. And, to tell you the whole story, I pushed the cart down the ice cream aisle. Though the boys never once said, “Mommy! Can we have some ice cream?!” I still grabbed a couple of the small ‘individual cup’ size Ben & Jerry’s Cookie Dough ice cream for the boys, while also grabbing two pints of Ben & Jerry’s Phish Food ice cream for me. You know the drill, “One for you; two for me.”

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