Monday, May 4, 2009

Coffee at 2:30 PM, Not a Good Sign



I'm not sure where my day went, but I was not in control or in charge. Usually I stay snuggled down in my covers, with my infant sleeping soundly beside me. I wait. A little head arrives, perfectly eye-level with mine. It is my second. He's ready to get up. "Get up mommy, cheesy eggs." It is a nice way to start the day. Soon, his older brother joins us in the kitchen for breakfast. But not this morning. This morning I was greeted with, "I poppy mommy. Change my diaper."

This was a completely liquefied, poopy diaper. Not a good sign, especially with all this Swine Flu media attention. I cleaned him up and realized the plans I had for the day were going to be altered.

Then he discovered that one of his Pixar Cars, Wingo, was broken. The spoiler had ripped off the back end. Devastation. Tears. Sorrow.

While trying to comfort my middle son, my oldest awoke angry, and began kicking both of us. I'm not sure the source of his anger, maybe because he likes routine and his routine was not happening, but neither was mine. Who could I kick?

My plans for the day included a playdate for the boys while I went monthly grocery shopping.

The playdate was cancelled. Not only did I have a sick kid, but the mommy who volunteered to watch the boys was also sick.

I convinced my parents they wanted to cover childcare duties for me. I couldn't wait another day to get my groceries. We only go once a month and my cupboards were very bare. We live a good 3o mins. from a good grocery store. I could go to the local market, but then I'd end up spending over 100 dollars and only receive two bags in exchange. Not an option.

To top off the morning, we woke up to an Oregon spring rainstorm. The kids were going to be cooped up all day. This greatly effects my oldest, who gets restless and always starts acting out when he's stuck indoors.

I drove to Winco with my infant. Shopped as efficiently as possible. By the time we reached the cashier you could barely make out my infant carseat and infant who was surrounded by 12 loaves of bread, two bags of hamburger buns, some hot dog buns, and an assortment of bagels.

I literally crashed when I got home. Monthly grocery shopping is worth it, but exhausting. My oldest two boys were not as exhausted as me, bummer. They wanted me to read books. Book reading in the afternoon is an eyelid drooper, but not for my kids. They never seem to nod off like I do.

That is when I realized I could not do this on my own. I would need Joe. I staggered my way toward the coffee pot, made a cup, and drank. Maybe it was all mental, but it made me feel so much better.

Unfortunately my cup of coffee came at 2:30 pm and not 7 in the morning. Never a good sign.

4 comments:

Jen Rouse said...

I do monthly grocery shopping too, but I always try to go at night so I can go with no kids. Because otherwise, as you mention, you end up with so much food there is no room in the cart for the kids.

Angelina said...

why dont you go bi monthly shopping? or go to costco?? please tell me you do leave the house more than once a month?? :o)

heather said...

I do monthly grocery shopping too. It means less driving-which saves gas, which saves $$ and it is a good choice for the environment too. I often do my monthly shopping in about two trips. One trip to Winco and one trip to Costco. At Costco I generally need two carts if I have the kids with me-so there is room for both kids and groceries! Thankfully my oldest can manage a second cart.

I try to pick up perishables locally-summer is nice when the Farmers Market is available.

And I order on-line from Azure Standard and that is delivered right to my hometown-love that! They have great deals on health foods (i buy flour, sugar and things like that from them) and ordering online saves time in the actual grocery store.

For right now, this system seems to work for our family.

Rebekah said...

I save a lot of money going only once a month, plus I live a good 30-40 mins. away from Winco. My next choice for shopping would be Safeway, 20 mins. away, but that is a lot more money than Winco. I plan out all my meals for the month and only buy what is on my list. I get milk and eggs etc. once a week, and we have a huge garden and orchard. We eat all summer long out of it and I can way more than I need for the winter months. Well, actually this year we ate most of what I put up. We just ran out of tomato sauce and only have 6 quarts of beans left. We used up all our delicious pears and there are only a few peaches standing, so we timed it pretty perfectly for the seasonal fruit. I just need a few more weeks and I should be able to buy local stuff.