This is When You Know

My Ah-Ha moment.  Well, I don't really know what that means but sometimes a moment in time slaps you in the face and then you know what reality is.

As I was walking back to get a new ironing board cover in Target yesterday, Chloe found a baggie of crackers in my purse.  Graham crackers are new to her and I am encouraging it since it is so hard to get her to eat crunchy things.  What harm can come of a graham cracker in a cart, right? I give her about a quarter of a cracker and she proceeds to put almost the whole thing in her mouth.   I knew then, I was in trouble, but she tried to chew it, maybe I was about to be saved and she would swallow it.  Oh No! gagging, here it comes the part where I fish the cracker out of my daughters mouth, yea me. So there I was standing in the ironing isle with a kid in my cart and a handful of partially chewed cracker.  As I considered my options my moment came.  This is my life, my reality at this moment in time I am chewed up cracker holder.  I was not a bad moment just a real one.  

Can I just say this?  You don't get preparations for the little stuff.  No matter how much experience & preparation you have, no one tells you what to do with the partially chewed graham cracker in the middle of a department store.  No one tells you that handling chewed up food with your bare hands is your new job (at least I was not informed).

The next time I am at a baby shower and they ask you to give some advice to the mother, you know when everyone writes, to be patient, to handle everything with love and don't sweat the small stuff, etc., this is what I will write:  

When you are in a store and you have already used the last kleenex in your purse to wipe a runny nose (which you threw it away, rookie mistake, a snotty kleenex is sometimes better than no kleenex at all) and the little one spits a half chewed cracker in your hand.  Just brush off the really nasty crumbs and give the non-soggy part back to kid.  Wipe your hand on your jeans and proceed with your shopping like nothing happened.  If you happen to be seen doing this by another shopper or store employee, just glare and give them the "WHAT? you know you would do the same thing" look.   

Now that is real advice.