THAT's What Seat Belts Are For...

Yesterday, to kick off the holiday week, I asked (begged, really) to go grocery shopping with my sister and her two girls (ages 3 and 1, if you've forgotten). Let's just say, I have a lot to learn.

They picked me up just as it started to rain. "This complicates things," said K. "Normally we park near the carts, but all the carts will be wet, so we're going to park closest to the door." We dashed into our first stop (Sam's), where we found a mostly-dry cart, played with the flap wall that lets the carts in, and finally loaded up to begin the shopping. Sam's was uneventful, mostly because they had the best samples ever that day: cookies, brownies, and croissants. YUM! We did have a number of requests for blueberries and a few reminders to Mom to get more orange juice, but all-in-all, we made it through without a hitch.

We loaded up to head to our next stop, Kroger, and K warned me that this one might be tougher. We were getting things not normally on a shopping list (onion strings, anyone?), which would make the trip longer and more complicated. Plus, dinner time was looming.

To be honest, I wish I'd live-blogged this adventure. We got in the door to find there was one car shopping cart left, thank goodness. Otherwise, you've got two little kids with only one spot in the shopping cart. K buckled them in the two-seater car at the front of the cart and announced that one of the seat belts was broken. "Hm," I thought. "The cart seems pretty safe; I'm sure she'll be fine." ROOKIE MOVE! Note to self: Seat belts in carts just aren't for keeping little people safe, but also for keeping little people in.

Before we'd gotten through the produce section (imagine debating scallions and chives while explaining that you can't have the knee-high (or eye level for them) pile of candy because it's Christmas candy and not Thanksgiving candy), Sienna had busted out of the car twice. Each time, we found her standing beside it holding something. We moved her to the side that had the buckle and, minutes later, my sister called me over. There stood Sienna, outside the car, holding a package of feta cheese. Knowing she was busted, she held up her little one-year-old finger and said, "I'll be right back. I need to get something."

In case you're keeping count, we're currently at...
20 minutes in the store
5 items in the cart
3 times Sienna has escaped
1 bananas eaten

I watched her a little more closely and noticed that she never unbuckled the belt, but rather flipped her tiny self over and shimmied out of the belt, onto the dashboard until she was free, then out the door. "Houdini," my sister labeled her.

We made it through the store in about 40 minutes (and two more escapes) and managed to get nearly everything on the list including a 24 lb turkey, squash, baking potatoes, sweet potatoes, frozen yogurt, oatmeal, turkey oven bags, stuffing, and cranberry sauce in a can. The one uninvited purchase? One of those pickles in a bag. Still no idea how that got in the cart, through the checker, and into the bag!

I got home, had dinner with B, and crashed. How do you parents out there do it? I'm in awe. I wish I could send you all massages for Thanksgiving!