supermarket

today i ventured to a huge supermarket with a very tired three year old, in order to buy some ingredients...

i made the mistake of going to the toy aisle to look for a gift for his friend. he of course wanted everything on the shelves and in his tired state went in to complete meltdown at the check-out because i had told him he could try out a certain toy we'd seen and then we got distracted by something else. he remembered the promise to try this toy at the check out but by this point he was on a knife-edge of tiredness and we were running late - having left little miss m asleep at home where her father was working and probably wouldn't appreciate having to look after her once she woke... whilst making important work calls. Mr Z had the worst meltdown i have ever witnessed - everything going wrong because i was in a rush (rushing never goes well with toddlers!) and he wanted to pack bags and re-arrange things in certain orders. it all got too much as i rushed him and he ended up throwing food across the floor, collapsing on the floor sobbing loudly. i could feel the queue behind me growing and their stares burning in to my back. quickly pay i thought and get out of here. at which point i realised i had a bank card that expired a year ago! when i left the house i had spotted a bank card on the counter and thought yes i'll leave my wallet behind and just stick this in my pocket!.. nice and light and easy... arghh. (what was it doing there? well i give the kids old cards & wallets to try to deter them from going through and emptying my wallet! and to play shopping games with. So it must have been picked up off the floor and popped helpfully on the counter). My heart sank... and i imagine every heart in the growing queue behind me did too as they saw their wait getting longer! the check-out lady was very sweet and said my boy seemed tired and did i have other kids. in my flustered state and trying not to cry i said "yes yes i do - his little sister is actually asleep at home and that's why we're in such a hurry to get back before she wakes up." at this point the looks of dismay, frustration or possibly sympathy from those behind me turned to horror at the thought that i'd gone to do my grocery shopping leaving my baby girl asleep at home, on her own!

z sobbed as we walked away from our shopping not wanting to leave it behind. we called hubby - me crying and z wailing and decided to leave the shopping at customer service and go home.  lovely hubby saved the day and took both kids back to the supermarket to pay for and pick up the shopping.