I hate the mall.

It's true. I've just never been a fan of going to the mall. I'm not exactly sure when it started, but probably somewhere around the age of three at about Christmas time. I was terrified, TERRIFIED, of Santa Clause. I specifically remember being with my mom and we got close to the line of people waiting to see the big guy and I started crying.

Then as an older kid and teenager, even in college, I always lived at least an hour away from the nearest mall. So it was usually an all day trip that included school clothes shopping or Christmas shopping for a lot of people. That means I could spend my entire time at fun teeny-bopper stores, my mom drug me to all sorts of boring stores and departments. I just didn't enjoy it. And I may have had a bad attitude about shopping, but I can't be fore sure. :) (Mom, no comments allowed.)

So now I'm an adult and I still hate the mall. Yesterday my husband and daughter convinced me that a trip to the mall would be a fun Saturday afternoon activity. Huh! What was I thinking? Off we go. I could feel myself begin to tense right around the shoulders when we pulled into the parking lot. The mall was packed. Not sure why because the weather was beautiful. We all should have been outside. We manage to find a good parking spot by Sears. Shocked? :) (Really, does anyone shop at Sears??? I mean unless you're in the market for some new tools or a lawn mower?)

I digress.

Into the mall we go with 2 small children, a very pregnant mama, one stroller, and missing a sippy cup. Whoops. The littlest troop was starting to get hungry and thirsty. First stop, Old Navy. Good sales plus a 30% off coupon and now the little ones have some clothes to help survive Fall. I also got a super cute scarf for $3.97!!! Meanwhile, the littlest troop is already getting tired of being in the mall. He wants to run free! And this isn't the place. Snacks should help. I give him half of a graham cracker. It's gone in about 2.3 seconds. He wants more. I don't have more. He would also enjoy a drink. I can't find his cup.

I'll be accepting my Mother of the Year award today at 3:00.

I leave Ryan and Eva inside Old Navy to pay for our steals and take Eli to walk around. Uh-oh, he's also sleepy. I don't have his blanket. (See Mother of the year note above.) This trip is not going to get better without snacks, ASAP. But for now, the steady stream of people is enough to distract Eli from his snacking and drinking and sleeping needs.

Side note: As I was standing outside of Old Navy waiting, a very gracious lady walked by and told me how cute I looked and said, "We don't all carry that well!" To you, sweet lady, I would like to say thanks. Your words lifted this tired mama's spirit. :)

On to search for snacks. What's that I smell? Auntie Anne's pretzels? Yes please. We'll have two. :0) I thought that 2 might be too much, but clearly I wasn't thinking straight. My son didn't get to be the size he is by fasting. He ate a pretty good chunk of one pretzel and when they were both gone, he began to point to the lady who had just sat down beside us. He was sweetly requesting that she also share with him. :)

Now it's time to reward Eva for her "good" (it was decent at best) behavior by going downstairs to ride the carousel. This required going down 3 levels. We decided that with a stroller and a 4 yr old we would take the elevator. Problem. There's only 1 elevator and it takes a sweet forever. After waiting for it for a while, we gave up and decided to brave the escalator. Ryan held the front end of it, while I held the back end. We hopped on. Then I hear, "Mommy, help!"

Eva hadn't gotten on! I tried to coerce her. "Just take a big step!" No such luck. So here I go, running UP the DOWN escalator to rescue my baby girl. I manage to get to the top, but I can't really jump off, but I was able to reach out enough to grab her hand and help her step on the escalator.

"Mommy, I got scared." It's okay kiddo, I assure her.

"Mommy, thank you for rescuing me!" You are very welcome sweet girl.

We make it to the carousel. Eli and I watch while Ryan and Eva ride. (I would be sick as a dog if I got on that thing.) We tried to let Eva play a little in the big open play area, but there were too many big kids that kept nearly tackling her. It's time to go. Not a moment too soon.

What started as tension in my shoulders 2 hours ago, has led to a full-blown tension headache. It makes me pretty glad that I will be recovering from birthing a baby come Christmas time and will have a really good excuse to avoid the mall at all cost. :)