Strength in numbers

Strength in numbers: The beauty of the buddy system while shopping with babies and toddlers. 

Recently, my friend Sarah of http://dearyoungmother.blogspot.com and I met to do some grocery/target shopping.  Hunter and I were in town with Archer that morning, so I said Archer and I would be up for a "tagalong" trip- we didn't need to buy anything, really, but I was due for some girl chat and catching up, no matter where we were!  As usual, Sarah and I exhausted ourselves running our mouths at full speed, jumping from topic to topic while chasing her lamb up and down the aisles and I paused to make funny faces and hand Archer new toys to play with in his carseat.  We perused baby aisles which launched many discussions, but had way more fun clothes shopping! 

I'm not really a "mall person."  I only go there a few times a year, including during the christmas season.  However, Sarah likes Target, specifically, so there we were.  Together, we branched out, and decided that although we felt too old to shop at Vanity, and Maurices, and Forever 21, we were having a youthful affect on each other and we could brave these places together.  And boy, did we ever.  Lamb had a delightful time carrying around sequined shoes and dumping the sunglasses display all over the floor, while we crouched down to try on shirts without going into the dressing room.   We deluded ourselves thinking the clerks weren't completely annoyed with us, although if they were, we really couldn't tell!

Thirsty and hungry, we sought out Subway for lunch.  I ordered, than guarded our 2 booths (one for our stuff, one for ourselves) while Sarah ordered.  And that's when Archer decided he was done.  He was hungry, and he was hungry now. He does this gutteral/screachy thing at a very peircing octave when he gets mad, and oh my word, the look the subway lady shot me said "take your baby out of here and DIE."  Red-faced, I jokingly acknowleged our racket to the small crowd; "sorry guys" I said, sheepishly.  Thankfully, Sarah caught the look I had received, and laughed over her shoulder at me, which was a comfort.  So instead of wanting to find the nearest booth to crawl under, I laughed as well, finding the humor of our LIFE WITH BABIES AND TODDLERS chaos.  I headed out into the mall to find a good place to nurse, and when I saw the Christopher and Banks store, figured that was a good option.  I was totally right- a nice grandmotherly type kindly allowed me to nurse in peace in the dressing room- the store was completely empty and it was perfect.  Revived, we hit a couple more stores and ended our day in peace. 

Babies are busy.   And this is so much fun!  I'm super grateful at the end of days like that to have a mom-friend nearby to buddy up with.  These are the kinds of "new normal" days that I want to remember later on, and the small moments I like to chronicle on this blog.  Maybe next time I see a mom doing this balancing act on her own I can throw her that smile or laugh with her instead of shooting off a nasty look, and she'll go home laughing instead of stressed out herself.  The value of the buddy system- priceless!  

Guilt

 All moms have some silly guilt over something. I've found my guilt.  I feel guilty that I love my life so much right now.  I feel guilty towards Hunter, more specifically- that he has to go to work and be away from Archer, which he hates, and I don't.  We've always planned to structure our life this way.  I was MADE to be a stay-at-home mom; I love it.  Hunter is not made for it and doesn't want my daily life, necessarily, but he does wish he could just be home more.  He works long hard days, and sometimes that means just a quick half hour in the morning and at night with our little man.  It kills him! 

But me?  Oh, I have it so good.  I work long hard days too, but they involve lots of interaction with our sweet baby.  My days involve snuggles to go to bed, improptu baths after that prune snack does its job, and lots of babble and smiles back and forth.  I smile more in a day now than i can ever remember.  I rarely have uninterrupted time, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  I love to watch Archer grow and change; I love to see and interpret his changing moods throughout the day. 

I love my life.  I love my baby and husband.  I am a blessed woman!!!