The 10th Circle of Hell, AKA, The Grocery Store

Don't let that beautiful little face fool you. Just a couple of hours ago, he was like a tiny, crazed demon. He was angry and loud and awful. You know that mom at the grocery store with the full cart, screaming baby and older child holding on for dear life as she wildly pushes through the aisles to get out as quickly as possible? Today, that was me. It was the first time I let Kieran sit in the cart, rather than putting his carrier in.  I needed as much room as possible today, so I figured it would be fine. He was not happy.  Not at all.

The few times this happened with Soren, I was mortified. I felt like everyone in the store was judging me and thinking I was a terrible mom who couldn't even console her own baby. Or maybe they were thinking I should be putting him down for a nap, feeding him or changing him, etc. I wanted to announce to the entire store that my baby had just woken up from his nap and had been changed and fed. I wanted to tell them that he really just didn't want to be in the cart, but I had to bring him to the store because we are completely out of food and, more importantly, diapers!

I have also been that young, single, childless person who rolls her eyes at the mom with the screaming baby.  I have been the career woman who just wants to pick up her diet coke, bottle of chardonnay and frozen Weight Watchers dinners and get the hell out of there, almost taking out any small children in her path.  I'm not proud of it, but it's true.

Fortunately, now that I'm on my second baby, I wasn't embarrassed. I took my baby to the ladies room and changed him. I gave him a bottle and then I calmly finished shopping as quickly as I could. Kieran was still sad, but I really couldn't help him. I had a full cart and wasn't going to just walk out when we were so close to the checkout line.

Then, a wonderful thing happened. Soren stood in front of Kieran as I unloaded the cart. Kieran couldn't see me and became hysterical. At this point, Soren leaned in and started kissing Kieran's little toes. In between kisses, he said, 'It's okay, Kieran. I'm right here. You're alright. We're almost finished and then we'll go home.' He just kept talking (saying all the things I usually say to calm Kieran when he's upset) and Kieran settled right down.

In the midst of a stressful moment, I got to see my son rise to the occasion and help his little brother. Even the bagger and cashier were impressed. They gave Soren tons of stickers and told him what a good big brother he is.  I think I was in shock, because none of this quite registered with me until we got home. I put Kieran down for a nap while my husband unloaded the groceries for me. Then I came down and told Soren how proud I am of him.