Nuclear Meltdown

What a morning! I had so many errands planned for today. Taylor was bright and cheery, I made sure she had eaten (even a little bit) and that I had everything I needed with me for the day. Then we set off.

We made it through two quick stops at the mall and then on to the JCPenney Outlet store where I needed to get some hardware for our living room curtains. Taylor didn't want to sit in the stroller so I let her walk and she did well staying fairly close to me. When she started straying a bit further, I whipped out a pen and some paper and some snacks and she sat down to draw while I priced a few items. It worked well for a few minutes (a successful Mommy moment). But then the paper lost it's appeal and she took off running.

I decided my best bet was to put her in the stroller and get moving. Even if she didn't like it at first, she would calm down - she always has. Well, this time was different...

She screamed. And screamed. And screamed.

People started giving me sideways glances and made comments as I walked by. I quickly put back all the items I had planned to buy and booked it out of the store, which was on the far end of the mall from where I had parked.

Maybe she'll stop screaming when we get out of the store - change of scenery, right? Wrong.
Maybe she'll stop screaming if I get some Reece's Pieces candies from the little dispenser (naughty mama). Whoops, no coins.
Maybe she'll stop screaming once we get outside? Out of the stroller? In the car? If she gets to play with the steering wheel? If I offer to nurse her? No, on all counts.

Ok, that's it. I'll just put her in the carseat and go home. She resisted the carseat, but the drive was fine. Ah, finally home.

Then the screaming began anew. She didn't want to get out the carseat, out of the car, out of the garage. She didn't want me to take off her shoes. She didn't want me to walk into another room. She was excited about seeing Phoebe, but when the dog pummeled her with licks, she began crying again. It was a full 15 minutes after we got home before she calmed down. A combination of a new diaper, nursing, and playing fetch with Phoebe seemed to do the trick.

All the rest of this afternoon she's been a peach, acting like she does any other day of the week. We drank juice, we ate lunch, we read books, and now she's taking a nap. Boy, was this a roller-coaster of a day.

In the end, I still have over half of my errands yet to run (and re-run), but this time I'll attempt them with backup (aka Daddy). And, there's always tomorrow. A valuable lesson learned.