Why Shopping With Youngsters Takes FOREVER

It's been one of those crazy days where I remember why I rarely go out with just the girls on errands.

The girls are out of school and we had a lot of errands to run to get ready for their clausura (closing ceremonies for the school year) and Ellie's birthday and party this weekend.

First, we had to go to the local used and imported-from-America store so I could look for random pieces of clothing for the girls' costumes for tonight. I mostly found success, though I couldn't find overalls for Ellie.

I did, however, find this Red Plate for about $1.25 (they can cost up to $35-40 in the States), and was pretty excited to continue this family tradition of using it on special occasions while living in Guatemala. Just in time for Ellie's birthday pancakes tomorrow morning!

Speaking of good finds, I was recently lamenting on a friend's facebook page that I don't have access to good, used books here in Guatemala, and specifically we were talking about books about child-rearing, and more specifically we were talking about this exact book, which I happened to find a few days later in Antigua in a new used book buy/sell/trade area. I'm pretty excited (not only to have found this book, which has been highly recommended to me since before Hazel was born, but ALSO, we finally have a place to take and trade used books! Our office and home are filled with random novels and books that don't really need to be a part of our MCC library, so I'm excited to have a place to take them).

Back to today: we only had one little didn't-quite-make-it-to-the-bathroom accident for my youngest, but luckily I was prepared. Unluckily, I had a lot more errands to do and no more changes of clothes.

My trip to Wal-Mart (ugh, I hate having to admit that I shopped there) would have taken half the time without the girls. Literally. It took more than an hour and a half, in what should have taken 30-45 minutes. Why? Well, when you are shopping as the only adult with youngsters, and especially when one is newly potty trained, and extra-especially when you have no more changes of clothes so every mention of "pee-pee" or "poo-poo" sends you dashing off to find the bathroom in the far corners and second level of the store, carrying a 2 year-old and dragging the 4-year old by the hand, it can take a bit longer to get through your shopping list.

This is especially exasperating when your child seems to be constipated and therefore says "poo-poo" several times. This sends me into a panic now, after our experience with Ellie at about the same age. But, every mad dash to the bathroom that results in nada is more frustrating than the last, and also more nerve-wracking, since I don't know when she might suddenly not be able to hold it. The third sprint to the bathroom was the worst, since I had just unloaded the contents of my overloaded cart onto the conveyor belt. The ladies working there were kind, and let me run to the bathroom, leaving all my items on the belt. (I was in the pregnant women/old people/wheelchair lane, so there wasn't a line behind me when I took off.) Another false alarm.

After a few hours of shopping I rewarded myself the girls with their favorite lunch spot: Pollo Campero. As soon as we walked in the door there was yet another announcement of a needed baño. But at last, after 4 trips while we were out earlier, at last, success. As I stood there waiting for my child to finish her duty, I couldn't help but think about how much worse it could have been, and thankful that it wasn't.

All to say, I remembered today why something as simple as going to the grocery store alone can be a treat for a mother or father of small children. It sounded so trivial before becoming a parent. But now I know that a trip alone ANYWHERE is a treat itself, to have the leisure to walk around and browse and shop without little voices whining and asking for things, and without having to sprint to the bathroom every 10 minutes. Unless of course you're pregnant and do need to sprint to the bathroom every 10 minutes.