Today Would Have Been Tragic

What do people do without au pairs? Often I tell people that I feel like I'm cheating since I have help most of the time. I rarely have to survive a full day with all 3 kids by myself. Today was a perfect example. We went to Whole Foods so that I could get Lady Finger for Daddy's birthday cake. I thought we'd pick up a little produce too, so after unloading the kids from the car and loading them into 2 different shopping carts, we entered the first section of the store. I picked up 3 avocadoes (saw the price and put 2 back), a couple of apples, and then saw the free samples of nectarines. I stabbed a few with a toothpick and took them to LR. I fed him the first one on the toothpick and somehow he immediately gagged on it - hard. He managed to swallow it, but soon after clutched his stomach. I asked if it hurt and he said it did. I tossed the avocado from its bag and held it open under his chin. He promptly vomited into the bag... which had a slit in it all the way down to the bottom. The vomit traveled straight through to his lap and then the grate at his feet on its way to the floor. I'm pretty sure I strangled out a few curses at the bag, bag makers, and store bag dispensers. I had been so ready for the moment when he got sick only to be thwarted by recycled plastic. *sigh*

Luckily Marian, a.k.a. Superwoman, was ready with a second, less defective bag and we caught waves 2 and 3 before leaving the few things we'd picked out and heading back to the car. At the car, we loaded Missy and J Frog and then as we cleaned LR, she told me to go in and she'd take care of it from here. Since I knew I wouldn't have an opportunity to come back and I had to make the cake tonight, I blew her grateful kisses and ran back into the store. Talk to any parent about a similar experience and I'll bet they didn't end up getting the items they needed at the store. We are poster children for au pairs. She makes our lives maneagable.

Note to self: Need more photos of Marian. This post would have been better with a picture of all 3 kids climbing all over her like they usually do.