grocery shopping with isaiah

I line the grocery carts with my padded cart cover.  I bought it when I first suspected that Isaiah got sick from sucking on a cart at Target.  Using the cart cover meant I didn't have to say "no" every other second when Isaiah was in the peak of his sucking-on-things stage.  As a mom, you choose your battles.

We walk down the freezer aisle at Kroger, and Isaiah decides to stand up in the grocery cart, just in time for the Kroger floor sweeper to see him.

"There are straps.  You should buckle him in," he tells me.

"Yeah, I should," I say, wrestling Isaiah into a sitting position.  "I've just never tried to figure out how the straps on this cart cover work."

The Kroger man sets aside his broom, and fits the backpack-looking straps over Isaiah's shoulders.  Isaiah stares at him.  I watch the Kroger man figure out the easy buckles that I've never once thought about buckling.  I feel dumb, so I play dumb.

"I guess it's not too hard," I say.  "Thanks."

"You gotta buckle 'em in," he says.  "Especially the climbers."

Two aisles down, Isaiah tries to stand up again.  No problem.  He just takes the cart cover with him.  With that big, navy cloud strapped to his back, he looks like he's about to go parachuting out of there.  I laugh.  Take that, Kroger man!

But then I notice the Kroger man heading toward us again with his broom.  He sets it aside again.  He shows me how to tie the cart cover onto the cart.  Isaiah stares at him again.  I should probably remind myself how kind it is of the man to stop and help.

"I guess if all else fails, Mom's gotta hold onto him."

"Yeah, I guess so," I say.  Duh.