Short bus and Big Stall

I thought to myself - what better way to spend a gorgeous afternoon than to go shopping??? I had a few errands to run, and decided to go to the new Renaissance mall in Ridgeland. If only I could be a fly on the wall today. Here's how my day went with a 1 year old and a stroller:

We got there and I managed to pull MC's stoller out of the gigantic pile of stuff in the back. If she doesn't have snacks in the stroller, she's a nightmare. It keeps her occupied instead of pulling tags off clothes and items off shelves. So of course the first store went okay (I was going after the exact same pair of pants that I already own but in a different color because I love them and it's hard to find pants that I'm willing to buy two pair!) I find the same size and was about to NOT try them on but at the last minute decided I better just in case. The lady helping me said "I'll give you the special stall." What? The "special stall"?? What is that? Is that the same as the "bigger stall" or does it come fully baby-proofed? Okay, ignoring that comment. Back to the pants. Sure enough - too small. How can that be? The size I own already is smaller and they fit great....AND I've been dieting and exercising...how can that be? So the lady goes to get me the bigger size. She said, "Did you say a 2 or a 10? Um...okay do I look like a size 2 carrying an 18 month old? Just as I opened the door to repeat myself, the lady in the stall next to me (with a perfectly behaved 1 year old with NO stroller) opens the door and asked if she could get a size 2 - looking at me smiling. Okay, I'm still not letting that ruin my shopping trip.

Onto the next store. Is there a graceful way to open a store door with a stroller? I'm using my butt to hold the door open and then push the stroller in. But the wheel got stuck somehow. I'm leaning over to the opposite side of the stroller trying to fix it...flashing everyone in sight. Meanwhile a line forms on both sides of the door with people trying to get in and out none of which bother to help me get this wheel unstuck. My bags are falling out everywhere because they won't fit in the stroller where my purse and diaper bag are. She's throwing her sippie cup and snacks are flying. If only I had my camera at that moment.

Next store...which is a toy store! MC suddenly gets in a better mood because she's surrounded with books and puzzles and games! I find Sydney's birthday gift for Saturday! Yay! I get to the checkout desk, where there is (to be nice) an oversized woman who is asking a TON of questions about toys that the store doesn't even carry...and she's not buying anything! So I have to push the stroller off to the side because the employee is trying to ring me up AROUND this woman. Which was okay because, yes, I'm in a rush to get my child out of there! Not realizing the stroller was close to the "itty bitty stuff" that they put close to the registers (you know what I'm talking about). I'm trying not to hit this woman in front of me, when all of a sudden I hear CRASH! Squinting my eyes and scared to look down, MC had removed 3 magnets off their wall, dropping and breaking them! So I yelled "I'll pay for that!" and apologized more times than I can count. The employee says "oh it's just a magnet - it's okay." I don't think she realized that they cost $3 a piece and that 3 of them were shattered. Then the employee gives MC a balloon trying to keep her occupied instead of breaking more magnets because I obviously can't move the stroller due to the large woman STILL standing there in my way! A balloon? Oh my goodness. She created a monster. MC goes NUTS over balloons. So I tie it to the stroller. We get back to the car finally (MC yelling "boon!...boon!") and MC has a death grip on the string. I finally get her out of the stroller and what? Where's that darn balloon? I look everywhere! I even look across the street to see who is watching me look for a balloon...maybe they saw where it went. Then I hear "bye boon." I suddenly felt stupid.............again.

So I get her in the carseat, and I'm trying to put her stroller in the back of the Nav. The tailgate wouldn't close because the stroller was sticking out. I probably spent 10 minutes trying to maneuver the stroller. I said "Mati Claire, your stroller is just too big or we have a short car."
Embarrassed, I turned around to hear someone say, "Do you need any help?"

Now you ask me. I rode all the way over here in a short bus to use a special stall.