March 19, 2002 - 12:55 p.m.
If you hear a wailing toddler today, it might be my son.
He may be cutting more teeth. His runny nose may be getting to him. Or he may have just woken up on the wrong side of the crib this morning. I haven't been able to discern what's wrong, aside from the obvious symptom that he's cranky.
We went to the grocery store this morning, taking advantage of the break in the rain. (I'm trying not to complain about the weather much. Our area was recently raised to a D3 level drought, so we need the water. And if it stays below 70, we don't have to worry about checking the pool for algae. So cool, wet days are to our advantage right now, despite being depressing.) Zachary is generally happy with a box of animal crackers while we shop, but not today. He couldn't make up his mind what he wanted and threw a fit when I denied him refrigerated cookie dough. (Yes, I know it tastes better raw, but you should at least wait until you're home to consume it.)
The cashier at checkout asked me if I realized the box of Cheerios was open.
"Yes," I nodded. "So are the Mini Ritz, Barnum Crackers, and Cracklin' Oat Bran."
I neglected to add that bits of all of the above were also scattered in trails along the aisles, a la Hansel and Gretel. I was too busy trying to keep Zachary from climbing out of the cart to retrieve said box of Cheerios.
But, in an odd way, I'm going to miss the convenience of these sudden shopping errands in a few months. Once the baby comes, the difficulty of shopping with children in tow increases exponentially. I suppose I'm going to have to find a sitter this summer - not easy if Zachary is still the leg-hugger he's become lately.
Well, I'll worry about that in July.
