Hooray For Small Victories!

On Monday I stayed home sick with a heck of a cold that had been with me since the Friday before. I kept the little munchkin with me, mostly because in the past couple of weeks she has acquired the ability to sit through and enjoy an entire movie. Since I was sick all weekend and Jeff had what seemed like a six thousand page lab report due, Avery and I watched movies, all weekend long. Her favorites are Flushed Away and Madagascar, which she calls – for whatever reason - Mouse and Eyes. I managed to get her to watch Bug’s Life, Monstor’s Inc, and about half of The Little Mermaid but she always ended up going back to Mouse and Eyes. After watching both about three times each, by Monday I couldn’t do it anymore. When she picked up Flushed Away and handed it to me I decided that no matter how crappy I felt, watching that movie one more time just wasn’t an option. It was at this point that I dragged myself out of my sick bed and ran to K-mart to get a copy of Kung Fu Panda. Here’s an account of the events that followed…

While in the parking lot of the store I turn around and try to reason with my 20 month old child. “If you sit in the cart,” I say very slowly, “you can get a movie, so do you think you can sit in the cart?” The small one nods with those big eyes staring at me. I am not sure if I believe the small one as she’s prone to change her attitude on a whim but I’m desperate, I cannot watch Mouse or Eyes one more time. So into the store we go. I set her into the cart and can see instantly that she is going to protest. I remind her again that if she’s good she gets a movie and the small one relaxes, at least for the moment. I run to the movie aisle. Not only do I grab Kung Fu Panda but they also have Shrek the Third with Shrek Christmas as a bonus, score. At this point, the small one is attempting to stand in the cart, damn. After a couple of minutes of talking her down, I run through the store and pick up cold medicine and a few more items we desperately need – like cat food. We make our way to the check out and it hits me, holy crap the kid sat in a cart for an entire trip to the store, it’s a flipping miracle. A light bulb goes on above my head as it occurs to me that all I need to do is bribe the little monkey!

On the way back to our house, as my energy begins to lag, I remember that we need more whole milk and a couple of items for dinner. In my delusional state, I figure she was good in K-mart maybe I can bribe her again at Safeway. In the parking lot I look back at her in her car seat and ask if she will sit in the cart again at this store and thus get a treat. She stares at me with a look that means business and yells, “NO.” Well I tried. Instead I run into the store, holding the child and a basket and throwing the few groceries I need into the basket at a record pace. If one is not quick enough at the store, the small one will decide that she doesn’t want to be held and will begin to squirm and throw a fit because she wants to walk. It’s a very delicate balancing act.

I guess hooray for small victories. Maybe the bribing to ride in a cart will work some of the time and that’s better than not at all. Maybe it means that she is finally getting to an age where we can somewhat reason with her. Maybe we’ll be able to eat dinner out at restaurants again! Maybe some day dogs will fly.

On a side note the other day while feeding the small one yogurt she decided she was full. When I tried to spoon in one more bite she held up her hand (in the talk to the hand gesture) and said, “Go Way.” I never said the kid didn’t have attitude!