The Best Laid Plans

I knew before we even went it probably was not a good idea. We were running late already. We needed to leave for swimming in a little over an hour, but yet we went anyway. Why do I always do this to myself??

We are going to Disney World in November and, because the temperatures in Florida are still in the 80’s during that time of the year, the boys will need shorts. No problem for Nolan. Griffin on the other hand is of concern. The concern of course is that he is growing like a weed. In the last couple of months he has outgrown almost three sizes of clothes. I knew five months from now, his 24 month clothes were not going to work. I needed to buy for Disney World now. I had already seen Fall merchandise making its way to stores. I needed to buy before the summer clothes were replaced.

I had been emailed a 20% off coupon from Carter’s which expired today. I wanted to use the coupon, but of course when I went to print it out, I had already deleted it. Thank goodness for a Google search as I was able to find it online. (Looking back on it now, I am not quite sure why I was so adamant about using that coupon.) Anyway, the original plan was to leave by 10:00 so we would be back in plenty of time to get ready for swimming. At 10:30, after locating another coupon, getting the boys loaded in the car, etc. we were on our way. (To our advantage Carter’s is about ten minutes away.)

We arrive at Carter’s and I notice several things. The first being that I was right. All the Fall merchandise was out. Secondly, the remaining summer merchandise was at the back of the store on circular racks crammed full. Grrr. I was not really in the mood for a scavenger hunt. The third thing I noticed was apparently Carter’s only makes 2 piece outfits up to size 24 months. My plan to grab a few of the two piece sets and go was a bust.

As I am searching the racks, I hear Nolan loud and clear. “Mommy, they have the rain boots again!” We have been several times to Carter’s over the past few months looking for rain boots. They are always out of his size. I maneuver the stroller to the rain boots (not part of the plan as we are already running behind schedule) and begin searching for his size. Hallelujah! They have his size and even in two styles. I tell Nolan to pick which pair he wants. I head back to the sale racks while Griffin tries to pull off clothing tags along the way.

Griffin is becoming fussy. (I had decided to skip his nap time in order to get this done.) Thank goodness for Cheerios! I proceed to look again and begin to ponder if I should get 2T or 3T. With this child it is so hard to know. I have already returned summer clothes to Carter’s three times in the past four months to get the next size up. I hear Nolan contemplating out loud which pair to get… the yellow fire fighter ones or the green ones with dinosaurs. I tell him to hurry up and decide. He says he can’t choose. He asks for both pairs. When I say no, he begins to cry. So does Griffin. Lovely. Uh oh! The cheerios are not working. His eyes look tired. Meltdown coming.

As I search for clothes I tell Nolan again that he either makes his choice or he is not getting either pair. A few minutes later I am holding about four pairs of 2T shorts with no matching tops. All gone I guess. Do I just look for tops somewhere else? Do I just not get anything? Do I come back later? “No” I tell myself. I have this darn coupon and if I wait, they will only have less selection. I tell Nolan we are leaving. Griffin is done. Nolan chooses the yellow ones, no no, the green ones, and so on. You would have thought he was deciding if he wanted to get married or not.

I walk off. Nolan starts to cry…. loudly. He says he just can’t decide. I grab the pair he was holding to head to the cash register and he says (again) that he has changed his mind. In the moment I had changed my mind too. I decided I better get 3T instead of 2T shorts. I tell Nolan I am going to switch the shorts for a different size and then we were going. He had better have made his decision. Back to the crammed racks once again.

Back at the rain boot rack now, with 3T shorts with no matching tops in hand, I try to stay calm, but I am so beyond frustrated and Griffin is so beyond done with shopping. Nolan continues to panic about the decision. I take the pair in his hand and walk off. He comes running with the other pair. It was so beyond ridiculous at this point. I grab the green dinosaurs ones for the last time and we head to the counter. Nolan is trying to keep it together, but is struggling big time. He begins to cry as the sales lady is ringing up the boots. He really wants the yellow pair. The lady asks if Nolan would like to switch. Nolan screams YES! I say somewhat politely and somewhat with gritted teeth “No thank you”. Nolan starts to cry louder. I tell him if he does not stop crying right now he would not get any boots. The sales lady is finally done ringing everything up, but cannot figure out how to scan the coupon. Of course! I also would have told her to delete those darn boots if I knew that probably would not have confused her more.

We get home. In fifteen minutes I needed to get Nolan in his swimsuit, put suntan lotion on, pack Griffin’s diaper bag, change his diaper, get a bottle ready, and make Nolan a quick sandwich. James calls to check in and I unload on him about what had just transpired. I did not really have the time, but my thought was that misery loves company. James said “I am SO glad I called.” I told him I had to go. I quickly accomplish my tasks. Nolan says “Mommy when things are hard, you just don’t give up.” Hmm not quite sure if he meant that for himself or as a reminder for me, but the suggestion was noted.

As I am practically shoving the swimming and diaper bag into the car, I decide to bring in the Carter’s bag. The bag that is filled with clothes (that I will probably have to return because they will be too big and because I can’t find any matching tops) and with rain boots that, in the moment, were destined for the trash. As I grab the bag hastily it gets caught on something. I hear it rip. The clothes and boots fall onto the dirty garage floor. And that my friends, pretty much sums up my trip to Carter’s.