Next time, I'll just cut off my toe

So, we won't talk about the fact that I've neglected this blog for months. Eh, life happens and I've been busy doing things, like gestating another human...

Since Mia discovered her ability to run, it has become nearly impossible to take her anywhere where there would be even a slight expectation for her to remain seated for more than 30 seconds.

I needed to have new tires put on my car today. I had an appointment and decided to take Mia with me, thinking how long can that possibly take? Apparently it was going to take about an hour. Okay, no problem I thought, We'll just walk to a coffee shop and hang out for a bit. Normally, this particular coffee shop is not that crowded on a Monday at 10 am, but today it was packed. Mia loves people, noise and being the center of attention, so I immediately knew this would likely not end well. I found an empty couch, took our coats off and ordered a chai and a slice of blueberry spice cake. Of course, Mia is running all over the place while we're in line, but I tried not to worry as I had brought along plenty for her to do.

I sit her down with me on the couch and before I can even get her a forkful of cake she is trying to get down. I block her in with my leg and share my cake with her as she squirms and climbs all over the place. I get out books 1, 2 and 3 that I brought...not interested. Same story with her doll, play phone and her favorite beaded necklace. I get her sippy cup and some more snacks, still not interested. All she wants to do is run around and she is starting to let out little high pitched shrieks of protest. In a moment of desperation I hand her my cell phone. I turn to take a sip of my chai and she leaves the phone on the couch and takes off. Normally, she will sit for long periods of time and play with any electronic gadget you give her, so her ignoring the phone was a big deal. To the front of the shop she ran, where she found a studying college girl to entertain, waving at her and dancing...then on to the man with a newspaper...then the group that looked engaged in some sort of business discussion...then to the glass door to leave her slobber and crumb covered hand prints. I pick her up and take her back to our spot. I try to settle her on the couch and distract her with anything I could think of. She takes off again and repeats the above...four times until I decide it's time for us to make our exit because she has captivated many and they are all staring. I put her in the stroller and try to put her coat on, she stiffens like a board and tries to slide out onto the floor. I try again, only this time she manages to get down to the floor. Now she is lying on the floor wailing and I am forced to wrestle her coat on her as she tantrums away. I want to throw a tantrum too. I manage to get her strapped in the stroller and on our way out the door my bag gets stuck, knocking my chai out of the cup holder and sailing to the ground, fortunately it landed outside. I look at my phone, it's been exactly 18 minutes since we left the tire shop.

What are we going to do for 45 minutes?!?! Shopping was out, as most of the stores where we were have very narrow aisles that make navigating a stoller difficult, as well as giving little hands lots of breakable things to reach out and grab. And have I mentioned that Mia doesn't really like being confined in a stroller, or anywhere else?? So we just started walking. Eventhough it was a nice day for November, it was still a chilly 37 degrees and breezy...at this point I felt like we had no other option, so we just kept walking. I kept getting disapproving looks from people as if to say "why are you out walking in the cold with a baby?" I thought to myself as I smiled back at them, trust me, you don't want us wherever it is you're going.

And then it starts to rain, perfect. I dash into a nearby baby store and find to my delight that there is not a single other person in there, and they have a large selection of Sandra Boynton board books. So now, since there is no one she feels compelled to entertain, Mia decides to accept the snacks I brought and happily flip through books. The tire shop calls, my car is ready the end is in sight.

As I'm paying for my new tires the guy behind the counter informs me that I have a wheel bearing (whatever that is) that needs to be replaced and it will cost approximately $431...I thought about asking him if he just wanted to keep my toddler and call it even.