THAT look

Mercury had nothing on Imp yesterday. The boy woke up in a funky mood, vacillating between giggles and fusses -- and remained that way for most of the day. One of those "do what I want when I want or I'm going to make your life very very difficult" kind of moods. One of those "Momma can't want for you to take a nap so she can have a beer" kind of moods. Moods like that aren't so bad when we can just let Imp roam free, but we had to go to Home Depot and Costco yesterday. And while he wasn't so bad in the first store, by the time we got to the second (Costco) he was done.

The winged feet are coming soon...

Biggest issue with Imp in a mercurial mood during shopping -- shopping carts only come equipped with a simple belt to strap your child down. Imp is pretty good at wriggling out of three-point restraints, so two-points do nothing. At one point in the aisle at Costco, we suddenly found him hanging off the back of the cart seat, reaching for the contents of the cart, struggling to dive head first into the cart basket, while still being supposedly held in the seat by the worthless two-point strap. Determining that it might be less safe for him to be in the strap, we undid it and continued through the store, always with one of us holding him in the seat. He seemed happier that way -- not having a restraint seemed to make him want less to get out of it. And we were still holding him down -- he wasn't going anywhere.

Even as an infant, he resisted restraint...

But of course, going through a store with a wriggling child seems to bring out the advice giver in everyone. At one point as we stopped for a sample, the sample-lady commented "Oh, he really should be strapped in". I briefly tried to explain to her that it was actually safer for him this way (we were keeping a constant hand on him, after all), and she gave me THAT look -- you know the one that makes you feel like both a blithering idiot and a horrible mother? Yes, I realize that strapping a child in is safer -- but as my husband was apparently tempted to tell her -- the ******* straps on the Costco cart were doing nothing to actually restrain my child. Later on, as Imp rolled around in the seat in spite of my efforts to hold him still, and tried to chew on the back of it, we got another comment "Oh, he really shouldn't be chewing on that." "I know," I replied, "I'm trying to stop him". And then came THAT look again. What I really wanted to say to the man involved much more cursing. I had wiped off the cart in anticipation of the wayward chomp, and I was obviously trying to deal with a very active little boy. Did he really think I was so stupid that I thought my son chewing on a Costco cart was a GOOD thing?

Eventually I gave up on the cart and then just had to figure out how best to carry my son so he didn't continuously attempt to dive out of my arms. I tried putting him on my shoulders while holding his ankles, which he sometimes likes, but he kept alternating between attempting to remove my ears or chew on my face, so I resorted to holding him in a cross-body front facing hold something akin to some strange wrestling move. He seemed content for the most part -- and while I got some strange looks still, at least I knew I had my son somewhat under control. We were able to complete our shopping, and as soon as we got home, he had a bottle, went down for a nap, and I promptly cracked a beer and tried not to feel so frazzled.

Not quite like this -- but close...

While I try to be understanding with other parents, I'm sure there have been times when I've given THAT look too, but I really do usually try to accept that I don't know what that child or parent has been through, and unless they are outright ignoring their child, they are probably trying their best. Sometimes even the best children can have bad days -- we certainly do as adults. But when you're already dealing with an active, frustrated child, it's amazing how much more frustrating the situation gets when you keep getting unwarranted advice and obvious derision from outsiders. I give my parents a whole lot more credit now than I ever could have before -- there were SEVEN OF US for goodness sake.

Imp is only 11 months old. I'm sure I will get plenty more of THAT look as my inquisitive, active little boy grows. I don't think I'll ever not want to punch the person giving it, though.