The Windy Walk

The weather is getting colder but today was sunny and bright and I decided to make the effort to get to story time at Barnes and Noble. The wind was totally whipping and I figured that if I threw the rain cover over the stroller that it would cut down on some of the chill for the Lady.

The rain cover I have fits my regular stroller, we walk with the jogger because there are bumpy sidewalks and it is fully assembled and waiting for us in the garage. I figured I would just wing it and make do with what we had. The minute I put that thing over the stroller the Lady lost it. She was scared and started crying those big tears that just roll down her face and stop in the middle of her cheeks and stay there for like ten minutes after she has stopped crying. I made some faces at her through the baby bubble, wrapped her tight in a blanket and we took off.

The bubble baby and I made it to Barnes and Noble and this week the place was packed. There had to be at least twenty kids. The Lady stayed in the stroller at first, to avoid knocking down smaller children while pretending she was a pachyderm. The girl reading this week was much better than the woman last week, although I was highly distracted by her boob salad. I mean this woman works in the kids section and to say it was sloppy would be an understatement. Anyway, she read a wide variety of Halloween books and when it was done the Lady and I stayed around and read some books and guess what? A mom talked to me.

I was super surprised. Granted she was European so maybe she has better mom manners then some of the other ladies I saw today. She introduced me to her son (but like in other situations we never introduced ourselves to each other) and even though she was very nice I think she kind of insulted me when I told her how old the Lady was. Like most people she said something like "oh wow, she is so big" then I said something like my husband is tall blah, blah, blah. Then she asked if she was my first because according to her, most first born kids are usually much smaller then those down the line. I mean what do you say to that? I have to disagree. She is my first born but look at her, it is so obvious she is a giant baby and all the rest of them will be, according to you, even more ginourmous. Why genetics? Why? Or you could just smile and nod, which is what I usually do.

I will admit that the Lady is tall. There was a little girl who was saying sentences who was about the same size the Lady was at eight months. But I am not going to worry about it, she is who she is.

So we finally leave B&N. I even made a concerted effort to stop and say goodbye to the European momma before we left. On the way home the wind picked up and whipped off my rain cover. It blew into the busy road we were walking along and I watched helplessly as three cars ran it over. I wasn't sure what to do. I tried to chase it into the street but I didn't want to leave the Lady (who had already pulled off her hat), or get hit by a car. A woman walking by feigned interest but really had nothing for me. The Lady just sat in her stroller getting wind whipped while I darted cautiously into oncoming traffic.

Luckily, the cover made its way close to the sidewalk but it was still about 15 yards away. Thankfully, a very nice man ran across traffic, picked it up, handed it back to me and told me to have a nice day. I reattached as well as I could, keeping one piece in my hand and headed home. The Lady seemed non-plussed and eventually passed out protected from the wind. Oh, the things you have to go through just to get out of the house.

Yesterday I tried to get out of the house and enjoy the really beautiful weather we have been having here. The Lady and I made the Dunkies run then continued to Barnes and Noble for story time.

I am still waiting for the welcome package to arrive in the mail for my mom's group, so in the meantime I am trying to take advantage of some other options. We arrived a few minutes late to a reading of Llama, Llama, Mad at Mama, a very cute book but not really dynamic enough to hold the attention of the seven or so kids under age two. At first I kept the Lady in the stroller but she soon made herself known and I let her out. We sat on the very little bench and listened to the woman drone on about the llama. That was going pretty well until she saw the photo of the llama and made a loud raspberry sound. This is the sound she makes when you ask her "What does an elephant say?" She has now adapted it to any large zoo or wild animals. She has another sound that she uses especially for domestic animals and seagulls.

Now, I don't get bent out of shape about these things. She was interacting with the story and she made a sound she makes about fourteen times a day. What I do get bent out of shape about is how utterly humorless some of these other mothers are. I understand that nobody wants their kid to be that kid, but all the children were walking around and exploring their environment. I don't care if your kid touches mine or if, like the Lady, they try to climb up on the stage area where the kindly (and clueless) Barnes and Noble woman is reading and touch the book. Yes, I stopped her when she tried to touch another kid in the eye, but she is learning her body parts and gets excited when she sees other kids.

I mean, I know that I am not the most outgoing person when it comes to meeting people and I don't really do well with small talk and initiating conversation, but aren't we all there for the same purpose and aren't we all basically going through the same thing? Most of these kids were around the same age and that common element should be enough to at least warrant a smile out of these ladies when the Lady made the elephant sound. I mean had it not been my kid I would have thought it was funny. When did we all get so uptight about the way a one year old reacts to a story? The only people talking to each other were the nannies and that was because they knew each other and came together.

I love the Lady and I don't want her tackling smaller children in a bookstore or poking them in the eye, but I can't and I won't hold her back from exploring the things around her, even if other moms turn to me with a stone face and the stink eye.

I mean last week alone the Lady pulled all the tp off the roll, peed (twice) in the thirty seconds she was diaperless, opened a drawer and pulled out all of my colorful placemats, tried to put her pj's in the diaper genie, pantsed me twice (another reason to wear pants that button) while I was making dinner, and screamed her way through a car trip because she didn't want her shoes on. I know these things happen to other mothers, why as women can't we just have a sense of humor about it? I mean one day my kid might run naked outside wearing just snow boots, or pick their nose in public and wipe it on my face, these things happen. We should embrace the commonality of our experiences instead of trying to save face and make it seem like we have it all under control. Because, please, if you can show me one mom who hasn't had a kid melt down in public, or cry, kick and scream as you try to peel them off the playground equipment, I will post a photo of me Biggest Loser style in just my sports bra and a pair of bicycle pants.