Daughter Day

I had another weird dream last night: this time, my tiny adorable 22-month-old daughter was trying to kill me and I was terrified of her. Really? She's two feet tall and weighs 20 lbs! What the hell is there to be afraid of?? If I dare try to analyze it, I might attribute the "my daughter's killing me" theme to the fact that as much as I love her like crazy, she adds a HUGE amount of stress into my life (financial, relational, time management, etc.), and stress has been driving me a bit bonkers lately. Maybe that's just it - this weird dream might be an indication that the high stress I've been dealing with especially over the past month needs to go, because this stressy lifestyle is killing me. TA DA! Officially analyzed.

This afternoon I needed to go grocery shopping. I didn't want to drive because it's really just a few blocks away, and driving short distances always feels so wasteful now that I'm a bike-commuter. At the same time, I couldn't take the stroller (it couldn't possibly fit everything I needed to buy and would have require multiple trips), and I also didn't want to bike because that would have meant putting a helmet on my daughter, and given her propensity to tantrum over EVERYTHING, that sounded like a battle I would have rather not picked. Then it occurred to me - didn't the Schwinn bike trailer come with attachments that turned it into a stroller? Hmmm . . .

I took a few minutes to put on the accessories and then - voila! - I had an embarrassingly large stroller! At least I knew it definitely had cargo space, and it helped to know that the weight limit was 100 lbs. Okay, groceries, you're ON!

I walked to the store, mostly with my daughter walking along beside/behind me because she refused to stay in the stroller beyond a couple of blocks. It made the stroller look even more ridiculously huge because it didn't have anything in it, and I took up just about the whole damn sidewalk anyway! I stuck to side streets to hide my shame.

Shopping was unpleasant as usual, as my daughter refused to go in the stroller (I tried - she threw a fit - I tried to ignore said fit - her tantrum outlasted my patience - she got to walk around). I darted between checking my shopping list, searching for my grocery items, and chasing my daughter down whenever she'd get away from me. People glared at me for taking up so much room in the aisles with my giant stroller. People glared at me as I ran after my daughter while she flailed awkwardly down the aisles laughing maniacally. Some people looked on with sympathy, others with an appreciation for the indescribable adorableness that my daughter exudes. I was sweating by the time I got to the check-out line - partly from the physical exertion of chasing my toddler, partly from being flushed with embarrassment, and partly from the panic that enveloped me every time I lost sight of my daughter (who, by the way, enjoys playing hide-and-seek with me - without my prior knowledge or consent - in the produce aisles).

After having to squeeze through the tiny space left between the stroller and the candy shelf at the check-out counter to chase down my daughter once again, it occurred to me WAAAAY too late in the game to bribe her into sitting in the stroller while we waited in line. "You can have these delicious Cadbury Mini Eggs if you sit nicely in your stroller," I told her, waving the package of candy in front of her brightening face. She sat in the stroller and patiently allowed me to buckle her in, then proceeded to quietly and calmly make her way through her Mini Eggs. Why the Hell didn't I think of this BEFORE????? GAH!

I managed to fit $150 worth of groceries into the bike-trailer-turned-stroller, including two 4L jugs of milk, a 4kg bag of cat food, and a whole whack of fresh produce. Hahahaha!! Screw being embarrassed at the size of it - I was damn proud I owned the thing! The best part was that it was so well designed, it took hardly any extra effort to push it home. I only really noticed the extra weight of the groceries when I had to lift it - groceries, toddler, and all - over curbs that weren't ramped. Oh, Schwinn trailer, you complete me!

I got home, put the groceries away, and made a faaaabulous well-rounded dinner while my daughter mercifully amused herself. I felt like SUPER-MOM!! I was AWESOME! Screw needing a car, screw needing a partner! I can exercise, do my part for the environment, get household duties done, and involve my daughter in important life tasks while teaching her counting skills and colour recognition ALL ON MY OWN! For a couple hours there, I was a domestic goddess.

I spent $250 on the Schwinn trailer that my daughter has rarely ridden in since I got it, mostly because she hates wearing a helmet. Today, I have to say: it paid for itself in awesomeness just for making my day.