The Shopping Cart Conundrum

I took my daughter with me to the dentist today. She sat quietly in her car seat carrier in the corner as I got my teeth cleaned. The last 10 minutes or so she became a little fussy, but overall she was very good - everyone said she was super cute, very aware, and healthy-looking. Why, yes, if I don't say so myself.

After finishing up at the dentist, I really wanted to go grocery shopping next door because I'd put off shopping for groceries for about 10 days and we were down to eating rice and beans, frozen chicken nuggets, and deli sandwiches. I've always loved the fact that my dentist's office was next to a grocery store I frequent, albeit it's up to 40 minutes away from my house.

I didn't have the stroller caddy with me in my trunk today because it ended up in my husband's car so I figured I'd plop her in a shopping cart and grab the few items I needed:

- 2 onions
- 5 pouches of baby food
- 2 cartons of strawberries
- 1 bag of carrots (1lb)
- 1 bag of potatoes (5lb)
- 1 container of yogurt

Doesn't seem like much, right? Usually, this would be no problem for a basket and I'd hold the bag of potatoes in my other hand. Well, when your baby in the car seat in the cart takes up 100% of the base of the shopping cart, and there's no room left to flip out the little part at the front that usually your child would sit in (but she can't safely sit with only a lap belt yet), you need to leave empty-handed or get creative very quickly.

I piled stuff around her feet being careful not to crush her toes. I put some items above the hood of her carrier, and anything else I held in my hands to the checkout line.

After checking out, I piled the few bags of groceries on the bottom level of the cart where you would normally put your heavy items - cases of soda, water, larger boxes, etc. Carefully, I pushed her out of the store, being extra cautious when pushing her over the threshold at the sliding door entrance. Well, I was doing great until I went to go down the accessibility ramp (which I learned in college is mandatory for all buildings/stores/places to have a ramp for handicap accessibility, or in this case, mothers pushing strollers or grocery shopping carts) and the ramp had ridges. Dundundundun went the cart, and of course the vibrations jiggled my precariously placed bags on the bottom level of the cart off onto the ground.

So here I was, diaper backpack on my back, purse over my shoulder slowly slipping down, holding the cart so it wouldn't roll away into the street with my precious baby, attempting to bend over to grab all the spilled items, and hoping nobody is behind me trying to exit the store because I am smack in the middle of their way.

Would you believe me if I said it wasn't the first time this has happened? It's not.

So this is my life: teaching piano part time, raising a baby, and wondering if there's actually going to be any room in my shopping cart for the groceries.

"Mommy, stop crowding my personal space."