Today was a happy day of errands, as I’d anticipated. We decided to divide and conquer – The Professor taking our littlest to the grocery store, and me taking our eldest to buy school uniforms for him and pregnant-lady-swollen-feet shoes for me. Jack had had a rough night the night before – we met friends at a nice, family friendly Italian restaurant, and Jack had about three meltdowns. It’s uncharacteristic for him to be so poorly behaved, but he was truly hideous. We’d ended the night dearly wishing we had just gotten a babysitter, but anyway the food was good, the company (with their own five year old in tow, and a pregnant momma about to pop) was understanding, and Liam was a perfect angel. (Except when he had to go to the potty and took off running . . . for the kitchen. He had just made it through the swinging doors when I caught up with him. “That’s not the potty!” he was saying incredulously as I plucked him out of the path of rushing waiters with hot plates of food and whisked him off to the right door.)
So we had a Serious Discussion in the car after dinner, and Jack agreed to remain quiet and think about his behavior all the way home. Which he, miraculously, did. He had a good sleep, and woke up this morning in a much more pliable mood, ready to go buy some clothes for big boy school. I asked both boys to pick their own clothes and dress themselves, just to see if they could do it. Twenty minutes later Liam was walking around in a Pull up and neon green spider socks. Jack, who had made much more progress, came down in royal blue knit shorts, a slightly different-shade-of-royal-blue spiderman shirt*, his own pair of orange and neon green Halloween socks, and his brown school shoes. Which is what he wore today, because he was darn proud of himself, and I wasn’t about to make him change.
While in Target getting school uniforms, I was talked into a pair of Spiderman goggles, which he perched on his head just above his real glasses.** Since we also took along the large plastic Spiderman figurine that he got for his birthday, we had something of a theme going. I threw some navy blue polos, khaki shorts, navy blue rain jacket, Ninja Turtles underpants and size six Hanes crew socks into the buggy, got a baby shower gift, a gift for a friend’s baby’s first birthday, and another thing or two, and a couple hundred dollars later we were out the door.
After hitting the Chick fil A drive through for lunch, we headed to Stein Mart and TJ Maxx to look for shoes without luck. As huge drops of rain began to slowly pitter pat on the windshield, I pulled into our last stop of the day – Shoe Sensation – and stood in the rain while Jack slowly and methodically inserted his arms into his new school rain jacket, which he insisted on wearing (zipped up!) for the three foot walk from the parking spot to the door. They were having a clearance on women’s shoes, so I prowled the shelves looking for low- or no-heeled deals, while Jack prowled the crowds, showing off his Spiderman gear. He would catch someone’s eye, then wordlessly move his hands to his neckline, give the person a somewhat lecherous smile, and in one smooth move unzip his jacket and pull it apart like a flasher . . . revealing the unbelievably awesome Spiderman shirt beneath. And then he’d just wait there for praise. He was the Spiderman flasher. As he still had the goggles perched on his forehead and the figurine clapsed in his hands, he cut quite a dashing and thematic figure. Luckily, virtually everyone there was willing to play along and make a big fuss over his shirt, making him beam (and encouraging him to continue doing it). I was just happy he wasn’t whining or miserable, and I could troll the aisle in peace, all while it thundered and raged a storm outside.
I got a pair of taupe low-heeled wedges, black flats, black low-heeled wedges, and red sandals – which should be enough to carry me through this pregnancy. Professional flats are kind of like the Holy Grail of shoes, so it took a while to find some things. Once I’d narrowed down my selections, it had stopped raining, so we made it through the checkout line and home without getting soaked.
And now we’re back – while Jack was getting Iron Man goggles for Liam, Liam had gotten a grocery store balloon for Jack. (They always think of each other.) They excitedly exchanged their finds, each equally thrilled with his brother’s gift. Liam is now sleeping with the Iron Man goggles wrapped up in his hands, and Jack is coloring next to me with the balloon tied around his wrist. The pantry and refrigerator are full, the parents are pleasantly exhausted, the lawn’s been watered by the rain, the bank account is empty but we are ready for school . . . it’s been a pleasant Saturday so far. If it clears up (the phrase of the season), the boys will swim in their blow-up pool in the backyard after Liam’s nap. If it doesn’t, then maybe we’ll all go blow some more money on seeing Despicable Me 2 in the theater.
Tomorrow is a long day of laundry, church, and baby shower. Monday is Jack’s second-to-last week of daycare. The summer is winding down. This month’s Southern Living magazine is full of ads picturing people wearing sweaters and boots, skipping along the beach wrapped up in fleecy shawls. The shops are full of signs in the shape of pencils screaming “Back to School!” August is upon us. Largely free of morning sickness at last, I’m looking forward to the fall.
*Actually a pajama top, though he remains convinced it is a shirt and wears it school regularly. Being five is kind of awesome, you get away with a lot.
**Since we saw Monster’s “Universary” in the theater about a month ago, he’s been asking for a Mike Wazowski costume and a Sully that roars. And Target, wonder of wonders, happened to have a Sully that roars – a twenty five dollar ten inch plush toy that I would totally have bought him if it had been ten bucks or less. We agreed to “think about it” and “come back later,” and then as a reward for him taking it so well, I got him the $5 Spiderman goggles. Jack selected an Iron Man pair for his brother.