Gratitude Friday...

Today was The Day.  

The Day in which I talked...out loud...to my phone.

And not Suri.

Google Maps.

After dropping both kids off at school, I was headed to Ikea.  Google Maps tells me it's 23 minutes away.  

Cool.

I click the route.

Then it says, "This location may not yet be open when you arrive."

And then, out loud, I said, "Like that matters to me?"

Clearly, Google Maps does not know me or the past two days of my life.

Yesterday, I mistakenly went to Walmart for diapers.  And what was on a table as your walked in the door covered in signs for Layaway?

TOYS.

Rhys, having been awake since 6 am, was just in the peachiest of moods.  He threw himself on the floor (after wiggling out of his buckles) proclaiming his desire to get a new toy.

Specifically, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle toy from the table.

I SHOULD have picked him then and there and left the building.  But I didn't.  We needed diapers and we needed to kill 45 minutes before picking up Aubrey Kate.  

So I told him we could go look at the toys but only after I got the diapers.

Which is exactly what we did.  

And then when we got to the checkout line and he realized he really was NOT getting a toy, he lost it.

I got a good kick and a sucker punch right in the face.  That hurt.  But not as bad as the reaction from older gentleman behind me in line, who has obviously raised his children and has no left over patience or understanding for those of us still in the trenches with three year olds. 

Because when I was peeling Rhys off the floor and trying to get him in my arms to carry to the bathroom FOR AN ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT, the Gentleman kindly reminded me that my cart was in his way.  When he hit it and rolled his eyes at me.

Y'all.  The man HIT MY CART.  

Like I needed something else to make me feel like a completely incompetent mother.

I managed to move my cart out of his way with my foot while I wrestled with Rhys.  Got him to the bathroom where we got our adjustment and then I waited for him to stop punching the walls.  

It has a been a long time since he's thrown a fit like that.

He was over-tired and I made a rookie mistake by not leaving the store immediately at the first sign of that tantrum.  So truly, I couldn't be too mad at Rhys (although I managed to muster up a fair bit of anger) but I could totally be angry at the Gentleman who HIT MY CART.  

Dude.

This morning didn't turn out much better as Rhys was awake before 6:00 am.  No idea exactly how much before.  Just that he was in the living room when Chris was leaving at 6:05 am.  Chris put him back in the bed so I got the pleasure of listening to him play for the next 20 minutes until he determined it had been long enough and he came in the room announcing, "I want my milk."

The two of us came out of the bedroom and found AK, again, fully dressed, ready for her breakfast.  

He has, since then, been unable to walk.  He throws his hands up, sticks out his bottom lip and whines, "I can't walk!"

Lie.

Today is one of those days when I don't have the strength to carry him around.  He's almost 40 lbs and I just can't.  Besides the fact that he's three and HE CAN WALK.

We've had a battle of wills over it most of the day.  Coming to a fever pitch when he refused to leave the playground after school.  Again, claiming, "I CAN'T WALK!"  

AK and I walked to the car at the top of the stairs.  I turned on the air conditioning and we got in to wait.

And wait.

And wait.

Took him ten minutes of whining and carrying on before he finally made it all the way to 10 feet from the car.  Then he sat down on the curb and continued to whine.  

We continued to sit in the air conditioned car.  

Another two minutes passed before he finally stood up and agreed to walk to his seat.  

My stars in heaven.

So when Google Maps tells me I'm likely getting to my destination a full 20 minutes before it opens, I want to remind it of the amount of hours I have spent with two little people, meeting their demands or fielding their kicks because of NOT meeting those demands.  And scream, YES, PLEASE!

Twenty minutes of quiet?!?!?!  Reading a book!?!?!  Thinking my own thoughts?!?!?!

Google Maps.  I feel like you don't get me at all.

As I sat in the Ikea parking lot, reading and rereading every delicious sentence in Rick Brag's book, I hope Google Maps was taking that time to seriously think about their words and how they can make someone feel.

Because we all know once you say words, you can only ask for forgiveness.  Not take them back.

After the torturous twenty minute wait, I went in, roamed around, picked up random items I had no idea I absolutely needed and then bought the one thing I had gone there to get.  

All that took 75 minutes.

Then I headed back towards school stopping along with way to get some Chick-fil-a grilled chicken nuggets and a diet frosted lemonade.  Which I ate and drank parked underneath a tree in Rhys' preschool parking lot while I read more of my book.

For an hour.

I needed that time to prep me for the battle Rhys was about to begin.

So today, I am grateful for the break this morning.  I needed it.  I have so many plans for the 12 hours I will have to myself now that both kids are in school.  So.  Many.  Plans.  But today, I needed the physical and mental rest of a good book, aimless wondering in a store and a frosted lemonade.