Donating, Potty Training, and...Tortilla, Anyone?

This morning we went to story time at the library. That's always tons of fun for the kids. Today they had a visit from Mother Goose--a fabulous old lady who dresses up, sings great preschool songs, recites nursery rhymes--the whole bit.

On the way to the library, we stopped at our local food bank to drop off some of the free-or-almost-free groceries I've collected over the past couple of months. I didn't expect what I found there: the place was packed. There are 12 parking spots surrounding the building, and they were all taken. We had to park across the street along with 3 other cars.

I took Caleb and Isaac in with me, and everyone inside was sitting knee to knee, waiting for donations. It was just so humbling to be there and see all the people in need. I walked up with my two little sacks of groceries, and I handed them to the lady at the counter. I am not one to like to donate in public, and I hesitate to even tell you this story because of it, but I wanted to pass on the great need that our own community has--and we live in a very wealthy city. I'm sure that they are in need wherever you live, too. A lady in the center told me as I was leaving, "God bless you." I was caught off guard, and I didn't even know what to say. I just felt like crying, honestly.

So, all that said, please consider donating to your local food banks. If you are a couponer, look for chances to get free or cheap stuff, and donate whatever you can.

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And now for a lighter topic...

WARNING: Discussion about poop!

We always have nap time right after lunch at our house. (Well, the boys do, anyway. I wish I did!) So, after lunch today, I took the kids to the bathroom to wash up and get ready to go to sleep. Isaac kept pointing at the toilet and saying, "Potty!" Now, he does this sometimes. He sees his brother sitting on the potty, I suppose, and wants to do it, too. So a few times a week, I let him sit there. He never really does anything. I think one time he may have peed a little, but I'm not sure.

Today, on the other hand, I sat him on the potty and he said, "Pee pee. Poo poo." Then he just pooped in the potty! Just like that! I remember how much I had to coax Caleb to poop in the potty--and he was over 3 years old! Caleb was in the bathroom with me, and he and I both kind of looked at each other, like "Did he really just poop?" Then we both cheered wildly for Isaac and told him, "Good job!" Isaac looked very pleased with himself, then he leaned forward and gave me a kiss on the cheek. What a kid.

But wait--that's not all! I asked him if he was done, but he kept saying, "Pee pee!" So I let him sit there for a couple more minutes, and he peed! Woo hoo! I couldn't be prouder. Who knows if he'll do it again anytime soon, but it's a great start!

(Yes, as in everything, Caleb was the complete opposite. He was pretty difficult to potty train. I wrote about it here. But I've been wanting to post that we have now completely outgrown the Pull-ups at night phase, since for the past month he has been staying dry at naps and night time! Yea, Caleb! We bought him some real underwear instead of the training underwear we'd been using, and he loves them. They have Thomas and Friends on them.)

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I took the kids on a quick run to Kroger tonight around 5:30. We were out of Caleb's milk, so I just needed to get that and a couple of other things. We should have been in and out in 10 minutes. However....

It started in the parking lot. "Mom, can I have a tortilla? I want a tortilla!" Kroger has a tortilleria where they make their own tortillas. They are super yummy, but they contain trans fat so I don't want Caleb to eat them.

"No, honey. We will eat dinner as soon as we get home. Daddy's grilling burgers right now, and I can give you a tortilla at home."

"I don't want to eat when we get home! I want a tortilla at the store!"

"No. We will eat when we get home."

We continued in this vain as we went into the store. Then things started going in slow motion: I saw Caleb walking next to my cart as we entered the bakery section, but he wasn't watching where he was going. And a lady pushing a cart was heading straight toward Caleb and was not slowing down. Why didn't I say anything? Why didn't I call out to Caleb to watch out? Why didn't I say something to the lady? I watched as the lady ran right into Caleb, running the edge of her cart right into Caleb's left cheek.

Caleb looked up at me, wide-eyed, mouth open but no sound coming out, face turning red. I scooped him up, and he buried his face in my shoulder. His arms were wrapped tightly around my neck, he was crying, and he would not hold his head back so I could see his injury. For all I knew, he had blood running down his face.

The lady with the cart started apologizing profusely. "It's okay," I said, more to myself and Caleb than to her. Out of nowhere, Kroger managers started appearing. A nice lady manager came over and appeared quite outraged at the woman driving the other cart, who by that time had excused herself and gone on with her shopping. I managed to pry Caleb off of my shoulder long enough to see his face, which was red but not bleeding. He would be okay.

The manager asked if she could get Caleb some ice, and I said yes. While she was gone, Caleb stopped crying and started to settle down. I asked him if his cheek still hurt, and he said "No, I just okay now."

When the manager returned we took the ice, and I held it to Caleb's cheek. Then another manager came over and asked kindly if there was anything else he could do. "Do you want some juice? Some cookies? We can't let you have a bad experience at Kroger!" Oh, you should have seen Caleb's face light up. "Cookies?" he said. The manager sent a bakery person to go fetch some cookies. He asked me if I wanted him to write up a report, and I declined. Caleb appeared just fine.

The bakery guy came back with THREE BIG cookies for Caleb. He handed them to Caleb, who tried to eat all three at one time. Then the bakery guy saw Isaac, and said, "Oh, little brother will want some, too! I'll be right back!" He came back with TWO more cookies for Isaac. Oh, boy. Isaac immediately started shoving them in his face. By the time we left, he was covered in gooey, melted chocolate chips.

Sigh. Next time I'll just let him have a tortilla!