no, not the mall!

Feeling slightly ambitious today, I decided to round up the three kids and head off to the mall. I needed one small item that just can't be purchased elsewhere. Curious? It was a nursing bra-whoopie! Anyway I thought, the kids would like it and we could have lunch there, etc. I must have been high. It was all fine until I was waiting to pay at the Motherhood store. You'd think in a store named, " Motherhood" they would be sympathetic to people like me. Think again. This store is designed for women who are about to become mothers, not the "I have three children and just need a decent nursing bra sort". Child #2 in typical fashion was antsy, and thought it would be great fun to hide behind the clothes in the racks. I used to do the same thing, only problem was there was a very overloaded unstable rack that he flew past and knocked over. All this right when it was my turn to pay. There were clothes all over the floor - some falling off their hangers and then the rack-stand thing was so weighed down with all the maternity jeans on the one side it was really hard to upturn. The sales lady didn't help. She just stood behind her counter, until I had most everything put back and then said, "Don't worry about that, I'll do it." Why didn't she say that ten minutes earlier? Geez.

So we get out of there and proceed to the food court. Oh yes, I must have been high. My children range in age from 5 1/2 - 9 mos. How the hell am I going to carry food and drinks for all of us and maneouver through the crowded food court while pushing a stroller? Answer: McDonald's. They put the food in bags, not on trays. Since I didn't want to eat that crap, I just foregoed lunch and made sure the kids got fed. OOPS! I forgot to get napkins, there is baby food all over L's hands and face, ketchup on my pants and D spills his milk on his pants right before saying the classic, "I need to go peepee."

After coming home and we all took long naps, I thought I would make up for this bust of an outing by taking the kids to this new park in our area. This was a much better idea, and it helped to wear the boys out so they would sleep peacefully despite the monster nap they took.
I saw my son's G.I. doctor there. He was with his daughter, who proceeded to tell me lots of personal things while her dad read the paper on a bench. I discovered that she doesn't believe in God, because she said that Christians think Jews are bad (she is Jewish by proxy- she was "born Christian" she said, but adopted by a Jewish family). Then she asked me if I was a Christian. I said I was and she added, " Well you are nice." I told her I don't think Jews are "bad". But the conversation did go much beyond that. I wish I had known what to say. It could have been such a cool opportunity to talk to a young person about spiritual things, but the whole time I was thinking that I don't want to say something to undermine what her parents are teaching her. I still need a lot of experience in talking about my faith.