Magic Combination

Today I found it... The Magic Combination!

Moby Wrap
(No this is not me or my baby)

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Less Stress Shopping Trip

I have felt pretty imprisoned with my inability to go out in public places, namely stores, when Ben is gone.
Want to know why?

Madie is a runner!
First chance she gets - she is gone.
She hates sitting in the cart. She says big girls don't sit in the cart. When I try to make her sit in the cart she stands up and tries to climb out. When I belt her in she screams all through the store to let her out. Nothing is better than being the parent at the store who is a) wrestling their toddler to try to get them back into the cart or b) the parent that has the obnoxious child that just will not stop screaming. She begs to walk next to me, when I let her try she bolts and then I am chasing her through Walmart with a shopping cart full of Abbi and groceries. So I got her one of these babies...



She thinks this is great and loves to wear it. So what is my problem you ask? She loves it because she thinks that if she is wearing it than we must be playing puppy, which means that she is usually crawling around the store on all fours. YUCK!!! If she isn't on all fours she is pulling with all of her strength in the opposite direction. Awesome!

If I can get her to ride in the cart I have no room for grocerie and I also can't see over Abbi's car seat because I am like 2 feet tall.

So last month when I did my monthly big shopping trip I got one of those gigantic family carts.  Yikes! First of all I think that one should probably have a CDL to drive one of those babies. I kept running into things. Second, I am way weird about being far away from my baby in public places. Abbi was like a whole 3 feet from me... Ah makes me anxious just thinking about it. I hate it when strangers come up and breath all their grody germs on my tiny baby. I am a freak - I know, it is ok if you want to judge. Thirdly not all stores have family carts and some have them but not very many... like the Broulims in Rigby - seriously... 1 family cart. Come on people I know that I am not the only one that has to go to the store with more than one kid. Not to mention that about half way through the trip Abbi decides that she is done with her car seat and wants to be held.

Anyway, as you can tell going shopping is a workout. By the time I am done begging, pleading, bribing and threatening my way through a store I am exhausted, I am sweating and I need a serious nap. Why don't I wait and just go when Ben gets home? I could I guess but I think that I must just be a gluten for punishment and it is a lot easier to stick to my list and budget if there is only me throwing things into the cart.

But today I think I found the solution to my shopping issue.

I strapped Abbi on me before I went in the store so I could leave her seat in the van. She rode along and cooed at me for a while and then dozed off. My mom got me the Moby wrap just before Abbi was born. I LOVE IT! I had a different baby carrier for Madie that I used probably twice because she hated it so much.

As for Madie, I went right at lunch time, I strapped her in the seat in the cart, and I went right into the McDonald's that is in the front of Walmart and got her a happy meal.
She rode all around the store just eating her cheese burger. She polished off her fries and apples and then played with her little happy meal toy. She didn't beg for anything, I only had 2 things left on my list by the time she asked if she could get out and walk. It was like a dream!

I was still a bit sweaty by the time that I got done - Abbi is a little heater. But I will take a little sweaty over 'I want to rip my hair out' any day!

Now I just hope that this combo will work next time I have to go to the store.