I really despise going out in public in the days leading up to Christmas. Isn’t the holiday season supposed to make people kind and generous? Apparently, you only have that feeling if you don’t leave the house. Once you hit the mad rush of traffic around the mall or the post office, all bets are off.
Today, we had several errands to run. We live very close to the big mall here in town, so any time we leave the house is an opportunity to curse other drivers and wait in a long line of traffic. I really try desperately not to curse in front of the children, but after I was cut off by some woman in a mini-van who almost hit us (!!!), the children learned the new phrase, “stupid b*tch.” *sigh*
Anyway, we made our weekly trip to the library. Eli got some new DVDs and Georgia snagged a Dora book. She is becoming very attached to Dora, by the way. She went into convulsions when I had to take the book away from her for two seconds so the boy at the desk could check it out. Thank God she didn’t spot the Elmo books or we would have never gotten out of there. He’s the one thing she loves more than Dora. Every time she sees him – “MO MO!”
But I digress. Earlier in the day, Eli had been asking me questions about strangers, so we had a discussion on what constitutes a stranger, and how you shouldn’t talk to strangers or open the door to strangers. On the way down the stairs of the library, Eli passed a man and gave him a good once-over, and said (loudly), “Mommy, is that a stranger?!” Before I could even reply, the man smiled and said, “Yes, I am a stranger.” Eli was very proud of himself. Much to my embarrassment, he was spotting strangers all morning!
Another thing Eli seems to be noticing lately are the deer crossing signs. I don’t know if you all have these signs where you live, but here in Kansas, it seems you can’t travel more than a few yards without coming across a big yellow sign with a deer on it. Eli, however, has decided they are not deer signs, they are moose signs. Every time we pass one (which is often), he quietly says, “Shhhhh! Mommy, we have to be very quiet. We’re entering a moose forest.” J That child certainly keeps me entertained.
Our last stop for the day was the post office. I was expecting a couple of Passion packages from the UPS man so I could mail them out to my customers in an attempt to get them there before Christmas. The UPS man finally came today at 3:3o. The post office closes at 5:00. Georgia was napping. Crap! The only option I had was to wake up my tired (and now very cranky) little baby to go to the post office.
When we arrived, the post office was so packed that you couldn’t even get into the parking lot. We had to park across the street and walk over. Then we had to stand in line for ½ an hour. That’s a lot of fun with two small children, in case you were wondering. We finally made it up to the window at 4:54. Whew! I asked the woman if they were going to close at 5:00 since the line was still going out the door. You could tell this poor woman had had a very long day. She responded, “Oh, you bet we’re closing at 5:00. In six minutes, one of us is going to leap across this desk and lock that door!” I can understand how she feels.
Today, we had several errands to run. We live very close to the big mall here in town, so any time we leave the house is an opportunity to curse other drivers and wait in a long line of traffic. I really try desperately not to curse in front of the children, but after I was cut off by some woman in a mini-van who almost hit us (!!!), the children learned the new phrase, “stupid b*tch.” *sigh*
Anyway, we made our weekly trip to the library. Eli got some new DVDs and Georgia snagged a Dora book. She is becoming very attached to Dora, by the way. She went into convulsions when I had to take the book away from her for two seconds so the boy at the desk could check it out. Thank God she didn’t spot the Elmo books or we would have never gotten out of there. He’s the one thing she loves more than Dora. Every time she sees him – “MO MO!”
But I digress. Earlier in the day, Eli had been asking me questions about strangers, so we had a discussion on what constitutes a stranger, and how you shouldn’t talk to strangers or open the door to strangers. On the way down the stairs of the library, Eli passed a man and gave him a good once-over, and said (loudly), “Mommy, is that a stranger?!” Before I could even reply, the man smiled and said, “Yes, I am a stranger.” Eli was very proud of himself. Much to my embarrassment, he was spotting strangers all morning!
Another thing Eli seems to be noticing lately are the deer crossing signs. I don’t know if you all have these signs where you live, but here in Kansas, it seems you can’t travel more than a few yards without coming across a big yellow sign with a deer on it. Eli, however, has decided they are not deer signs, they are moose signs. Every time we pass one (which is often), he quietly says, “Shhhhh! Mommy, we have to be very quiet. We’re entering a moose forest.” J That child certainly keeps me entertained.Our last stop for the day was the post office. I was expecting a couple of Passion packages from the UPS man so I could mail them out to my customers in an attempt to get them there before Christmas. The UPS man finally came today at 3:3o. The post office closes at 5:00. Georgia was napping. Crap! The only option I had was to wake up my tired (and now very cranky) little baby to go to the post office.
When we arrived, the post office was so packed that you couldn’t even get into the parking lot. We had to park across the street and walk over. Then we had to stand in line for ½ an hour. That’s a lot of fun with two small children, in case you were wondering. We finally made it up to the window at 4:54. Whew! I asked the woman if they were going to close at 5:00 since the line was still going out the door. You could tell this poor woman had had a very long day. She responded, “Oh, you bet we’re closing at 5:00. In six minutes, one of us is going to leap across this desk and lock that door!” I can understand how she feels.
4 comments:
Yes, this has become such a wonderful season for traffic, arguments about "holiday" vs. "Christmas", etc. It can be very frustrating, especially when you are the person responsible for making it all happen.
I went out Saturday to do a bit of shopping and the traffic was a nightmare. Luckily I know all the little cut throughs and back parking lots so I just zoomed around all the major intersections.
i hate the people at the post office! they wouldn't mail a package becuase it had the day before's date on it. so I had to re-print the label (not fun when using paypal), and mail it again...
Your children sound absolutely delightful! Lol. I love hearing all about your escapades. :)
The post office is awful, especially during the holiday season. Fortunately we've been snowed in for the past 2 days. Unfortunately, the kids all outgrew their snow boots so they can't go outside (although Patrick went outside anyway in his hiking boots). All I can say is Sculpey is the bane and simultaneously the salvation of my existence.
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