Sometimes I Hate Oklahoma

I think it’s fair to say that I am just a little bit crazy. I don’t think you get into the mom profession without a little bit of craziness. Some days I feel a little crazier than others, and today just happened to be one of those days. The kids were being great this morning and I really needed to get to Target for a few things. If I didn’t, Gavin would be wearing one of Jackson’s diapers this afternoon. So I packed them all up and headed off to Target.

When I take all three kids out I have a pretty solid plan down. I put Gavin in the baby pack, Jackson in the cart, and Eliza walks holding onto the cart. It works pretty well. Today as I opened my car door I nearly fell over from the wind. I grabbed a cart, stuck Jackson in the front, had Eliza hold onto the side, and I put Gavin in the pack. We walked inside being blown sideways the entire way. My list wasn’t too long, so I proceeded to get everything, and because the kids were so good I decided to let them pick out Halloween baskets. They were in the dollar aisle so I figured it was a good bargain on my part. (Plus it's boss's day and I am kinda like their employee--haha) We checked out and headed back out in the wind “storm” to load everything in the car.

I think the wind was even stronger on our way out. I managed to get Eliza in the car, tossed Jackson in his seat and started tossing bags in the car. Poor little Gavin was holding on for dear life. I held his head under a blanket with one hand, held the cart with one foot, and tossed bags with the other hand. And of course the Halloween baskets go flying out of my cart. In that split second I had to decide if I was going to abandon my empty cart and run after the baskets with Gavin strapped to my front or if I would just watch where they go and attempt to get them after I put him in his seat. Luckily, I chose the saner option and decided to put him in his seat first. I thought chasing down rolling baskets in the Target parking lot with a baby strapped to my chest probably wasn’t the best idea. Anyway, I watched where the baskets rolled--they had to stop eventually right.

Then I saw what I thought was a good Samaritan, that must have seen my thoughts of running after the baskets, pull over and jump out of their car to grab the baskets. By this point the baskets are completely across the parking lot and stuck in a line of trees. They start driving back towards me. I figured they’d just pull up right beside me and hand me the baskets. Oh no. They parked a little ways away and hoped out like nothing was going on. I ran over to them, asked them about picking up the baskets, and they said they hadn’t picked them up and didn’t even see them. (So now I think I’m really crazy) I thought maybe they hadn’t picked them up and they were still stuck in the trees. A little frustratingly (b/c I knew they were just lying to me) I got in the car and drove across the parking lot keeping an eye out for the baskets. They weren’t there. I even drove across the street to see if they somehow blew threw the trees. They weren’t there. I guess a couple kids just get some free Halloween baskets. That part doesn’t bother me at all, the part that bothers me is that these people just lied to my face over $2 of baskets. Oh well. Sometimes I wonder why all this crazy stuff happens to me. I really can't make it up!

 As I look back in my head of how I managed to hold onto my cart and get my kids in the car while some of my purchase went flying in the air it just makes me laugh. Sometimes I really do hate Oklahoma--but at least the wind here is strong enough that as I made the split decision to not run after $1 baskets they were far enough away to help make up my mind.