Adventures In Grocery Shopping

So I'm happy everyone was so touched by last week's grocery shopping experience with H -- perhaps this could evolve into a column of sorts if the adventures continue... and that's my way of previewing that this past Sunday brought more AIGS (or Adventures in Grocery Shopping).

Given the way last week played out, I was stocked to the gills on Sunday when Hunter and I ventured to Meijer. What I didn't realize I would need, however, was a beach towel.

Things were going well -- we'd hit Aisle 8 out of 15 and the sippy cup had just been doled out. Hunter was happily banging Ole Sippy on the grocery cart and I was ticking off items on the list (side note: I'm thrilled to say I've moved away from paper lists --> Hunter kept grabbing these and attempting to eat them while at the store --> now I'm using a Grocery Cart app on my iPhone. It tallies the price of items after I've crossed them off and stores coupon info. Amazing!). After performing a Great Roulenda balancing act of veering the cart from a large display where H was trying to upend the bottom can of tomatoes and also grabbing milk from the refrigerated section, we entered Aisle 8. The International Foods Aisle. I had my sights set on vacuum-sealed gnocci when suddenly Hunter let out a HUGE screech, erected his sippy cup in the air and... the lid came flying off, drenching Hunter in a Niagara-Falls style gush of fruit juice.

And he started screaming.

I immediately entered what can only be known as THE MOM ZONE, assessing supplies in my cart, damage and passersby impressions of the very scene. (P.S. it's amazing that onlookers have the ability to stare at you in times of crises like these. I mean, someone run down to Aisle 10 and grab me a roll of Bounty why don't you???) Since the waterfall was primarily contained to the compartment of the cart where Hunter was sitting (and yes, once again, my purse), I immediately stripped him down to a short-sleeve undershirt, draped his coat over the side of the cart to dry out, used wipes to clean up his face, grabbed a box of crackers from my cart to distract him and used Blank (i.e. his prized blanket) to 'towel' off his head and remaining soaked body parts. Fruit juice makes a heck of a hair gel by the way... I'm looking to market it in Fall '09.

And yes, I finally got to use the line: "Excuse me, but I think there's a clean up needed in Aisle 8."