Shopping with children until the age of 5 or 6 is quite an ordeal. I have tried Hayden's entire life to do all of the shopping that needs to be done without him. One particular incident stands out quite clearly in my mind. Being a 2 year old, you don't really know much about shopping. Hayden sees me put things in the cart, which in turn makes him think he can put things in the cart as well. It's not too hard to put back some of the things he puts in the cart when he's not looking. However, Hayden may have found the one thing that isn't so easy to put back. We were in the candy aisle; that's obviously strike one when you have a 2 year old with you. Anyway, we were in the candy aisle, I can't remember what we were looking for, when Hayden decided to take a plastic container full of jelly beans and put it in the cart. Being quite short, it took him quite some effort to do this, so really it was more of a 'toss' than a 'place' in the cart. Have you ever dropped a container full of jelly beans at any height? Well if you haven't, let me explain. There's a thin, plastic seal along the lid of the container. Apparently, when you drop the container, the seal breaks. And when that seal breaks, the container opens. And when the container opens, a 2 year old is now in heaven and he's hit the jackpot. All over the floor were hundreds of jelly beans. There is no parent book out there that prepares you for a scene like this. With a loud, YAAAAA!!!!, Hayden began to run around picking up as many jelly beans as he could and starting shoving them in his mouth. So, I did what every mother would do. I picked Hayden up, and booked it! There was no way I was staying around for that! I sure do hope no one tripped on those jelly beans, and if you did, how did you not see them!?
