Part 1
The side the rest of the world saw
Imagine seeing a woman walking into the store with a young child, who may or may not be a girl, who could tell under the grungy hair? The child, who actually is a girl, after noticing she has Dora the Explorer on her jacket, walks over and smartly picks up a shopping basket and walks alongside her mother who is pushing a cart. The little girl picks up a package of donuts and puts them in her basket, isn't that the sweetest thing? Wait, why is that mother making her put those back? What kind of cheapskate won't buy her angel a $1.99 pack of donuts? What is this world coming to?
Look at that, the little darling has spotted the Easter display! And why wouldn't she want to look at the pretty baskets? Can you believe that mother had the audacity to pick that baby up and put her in the cart? Why? She just wanted to look at the pretties. Hmmph, mothers these days. As the mother walks off, she flings the basket down on the floor. What nerve.
What is that God awful noise? Are humans even capable of making a sound like that? That mother must've hit that child to make her scream like that. I should call Children's Services and report her, why would you smack a child in public?? Did I see her smack the child? Well, no, but she must have for the poor angel to be crying that way. And look at that mom, she's not even paying attention to the poor baby, she's just carrying on like it's business as usual. With that smug look on her face, someone should teach her a lesson. Now look at that, there's an elderly lady trying to comfort the child, yet the mother is ignoring her too. Imagine the nerve of that woman, some people shouldn't breed. I just saw her at the check out, I shudder to think what she does to that poor kid when they get out of everyone's sight.
Part 2
What really happened
All afternoon long, I have tried to lay Olivia down. I layed with her, I scratched her back, I read a book, nothing worked. I gave up. I knew I had to swing by the grocery store before I picked up the other 2 from school, so I decided to go ahead and make the trek to Wal-Mart. I live 2 miles from there, she fell asleep as we were pulling out of the driveway. Argh. All I can think about is the fact that she will not let me brush her hair, and has thus taken on the appearance of a caveman. I wake her up when we arrive, and she actually seemed okay. So I then walked into the store with the intent of putting her in the buggy so she could rest a little longer. She was having no part of it. I've started letting her carry her own basket so she feels like a big girl, it usually keeps her in a chipper mood so I can shop. But the first thing she saw was donuts. And she HAD to have them. Now I'm thinking about the fact that I have 2 opened packages of the SAME damn donuts at home because for some reason, when we go to the store, she insists on a new package. Now I'm not above bribing my kids to behave, sad, but true. And I didn't want to play my bribery card as I was walking in the door, so I made her put them back.
She then spots the Easter baskets, and freaks out and starts running towards them. I tell her "no". I knew I only had 15 minutes to shop, I had no time to waste on a tantrum. She started crying, so I had no choice but to pick her up and put her in the cart. It would've been easier to give a cat a bath, she fought and clawed, it was horrible. As soon as she was deposited in the back of the cart, she proceeds to howl like a wounded animal. How do kids perfect that cry that sounds like you've pinched them when no one was looking?? As we're walking down the aisle, she HURLS the shopping basket, I ignored it and left it laying in the floor. I had no choice but to walk along and finish shopping, I knew I had to pick the older 2 up from school, and I knew they would be starving and I had no snacks in the house to feed them.
We were almost done, and an elderly lady approached Olivia. She started baby talking to her. Which only freaked Olivia out more, she has a stranger phobia. I had to just walk out and leave the woman with her mouth hanging open, she was only making a bad time worse. We finally make it to the check out, where I cheerfully ask the cashier if we've broken the Wal-Mart record for longest tantrum? She then tells me that she could hear Olivia yelling through the whole store. Yikes. I then left like a dog with my tail tucked between my legs.
That's my side. Oh, my smug face? Yeah, that's because I don't care anymore. With my oldest, I was horrified when she would act up in public, worried about what everyone was thinking. After 3, I have discovered, I really don't have the time to worry about what you're thinking of me and my screaming she-devil, just let me pay for my stuff and get the hell out!
