Timing is everything

I made the monumental mistake today that no mom of 7 years should do - I took my children to the grocery store right before nap time. I was determined to get groceries after having nothing in the house from vacation, and my morning got way to busy to do it then. I don't leave the house after 4 p.m. unless I absolutely have to (I've become quite picky about that after quitting work) so that left the hours of 1-3 p.m. Not a good time; not a good time at all. I negotiated with the boys that they could have their Harris Teeter cookie only after they had proved they could behave through the grocery store. So off we went. Unfortunately I had to order my 3 year old's birthday cake on this trip as well. He thought he was getting his cake today to eat. If you've ever been in a HT, you know that the bakery is not even in aisle 1 - it's the aisle before aisle 1. So the tantrum began before we even hit the first aisle. With the help of the nice lady at the bakery (she told my son to be a good boy for mommy and she would start working on his cake right away), I was able to negotiate my way out of the area with little damage to me or my child. Half-way down the cereal aisle we came upon the next round of tantrums.......man how I hate the makers of pop-tarts! I managed to get out of there with no more than a box of s'mores flavored granola bars. Unfortunately for my little one, and me, and every one within 4 aisles of the frozen food section, my little boy managed to pinch his fingers in the cute little toddler sized grocery cart he was pushing. Anyone who hadn't heard his screams before that, definitely heard him now. I held him as he cried and the only thing that would appease him was, you guessed it, his cookie. So much for not rewarding bad behavior. But I think there's an exception to the rule for boo-boos. Sherri This was in the Charlotte Observer today and hit home with me and my picky eaters. http://www.charlotte.com/581/story/199822.html