Another Mommy Lesson Learned

I hate to brag...but Christmas shopping this year has been so easy for me!  I devised the brilliant plan to make my list early on who we buy gifts for, I keep it in my wallet year round, and pick up gifts as we go!  Then as the Christmas season approaches, we find the rest of the gifts online!  No lines, no crowded parking lots, no out of stock items.  SHEER BRILLIANT!  Sometimes it's hard being this awesome!

OF COURSE, there is ALWAYS a snag.  Nothing goes quite as planned. 

This past Monday, I realized I needed a few last minutes items.  Samuel had slept late, so I figured it was the perfect day to tackle those last minute chores!

The day started off lovely.  I had to get my phone replaced at AT&T.  Bought Samuel a new pair of shoes.  We had a lovely mother and son lunch at Chick-Fil-A.  We even made it to the bathroom without a meltdown.  Then Chick-Fil-A man showed up at our table with a balloon for Samuel.  He LOVED it.  My thought at that moment was, that is just such a great service that they provide.  I smartly tied the balloon to Samuel's harness.  Things were going smooth!

Almost to the car, Samuel realized he wasn't holding the balloon by himself, that it was attached to him!  He LAID DOWN (yes, you read that correctly) AND SCREAMED in the middle of the mall!  Now, at home, when these tantrums show up, I just let him go at it until he calms himself down.  But what do you do when it happens in public??? I was stumped.  So I broke my rule and started reasoning with him, which made the crying even louder.  Then I tried bribing him...it only made it worse.  Then I realized people were STARING at me.  Then the comments started: He doesn't sound very happy.  Sounds like nap time. I know, I know, people were just trying to be nice, but it wasn't helping and just made the crying worse. 

I finally gave in, and gave Samuel exactly what he wanted: FULL BALLOON FREEDOM.  I untied the balloon and let him hold it as I scooped him up and ran for the car.  UNFORTUNATELY, Samuel was still mad and let the balloon go...and I was unable to reach it.

This led to even more crying!  More comments!  More stares!

So what to do??? Go back and get a new balloon or go to the car???  Chick-Fil-A was WAY too far at this point, so I dashed for the car with a promise we would stop and get a new balloon somewhere else. 

The tears continued, the vomiting started (he vomits when he gets upset), the comments continued to flow, the stares just didn't stop!  "Sounds like he's getting kidnapped" or "Someone is cranky" or "What's wrong with him?" I thankfully remembered my childhood manners, if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all!  So I wrestled Samuel into his car seat, and snapped these pictures!!!  I figured one day I would laugh about that whole experience (and I am!)

I followed through with my promise to stop and get a new balloon.  The Dollar Tree always has great balloons.  So I got the screaming to stop, cleaned up his Christmas shirt that said "I've Been Good All Year" and we made our way to the Dollar Tree to find that their helium tank was broken!

Another round of hysterical crying, another round of wrestling Samuel into his car seat, and I pulled a full fledged white flag of defeat as I decided it just wasn't worth it...home we went! 

When we got home, this was the scene:

What lessons did I learn:

1. Never, ever, EVER EVER EVER accept balloons from anyone giving them out...it never ends good!

2.  Do ALL Christmas/Birthday/Easter shopping online....ALL OF IT!

By the way, Eric is such a great daddy.  I told the very animated story to Eric when I got home...Eric came home that night with a balloon for Samuel :0)  It brought a week worth of delight!  It even almost made up for the hysterical scene!!