Cart Wars

Today I went to the grocery store. Some of you may have noticed the cart with the toddler car on the front end of it. Apparently they need to supply more of these carts because I've only had the good fortune of getting it once and I go to the store at least once a week. London thinks riding in the car cart is the coolest, so I was stoked when I pulled into the parking lot today and saw the car cart empty and waiting. I got out of the car and--could it be? Some other lady was taking the cart!! She was by herself. Surely she didn't need the car cart for herself, and I wasn't going to give it up that easily, so I left my kids in the car with the doors wide open and ran after her to ask for it. "I'm sorry," she said. "My son is coming and this is the only way I can get my shopping done." I was miffed, but figured, she got to it first, so oh well.

BUT THEN--you won't believe this--as I'm walking up with Eden in her car seat in one hand and London on the other hip, loading them into the regular cart, her man strolls up with her son! What the heck? That's the only way you can get your shopping done? How about you leave the dude at home with the kid and come by yourself? Save the prized car cart for single moms with 2 kids like me! With Eden in the front part and London sprawled out in the rear, I hardly had room for my groceries! I know she saw me as I was loading my kids up, and if the roles were reversed, I would have been the bigger woman and given up the car cart to the woman in need. (And if I didn't, then Tim certainly would have insisted she have it, because he's definitely the bigger man!)

BUT WAIT! It gets worse. We kept passing each other in the aisles, and I noticed she had her own cart with the groceries and her man was just pushing the kid around in the other one, as if it were an amusement park ride! As it turns out, we ended up checking out at the same time, and I noticed that her kid was asking her to buy him some Thomas the Train book and she was trying to talk him out of it, while my sweet baby was smiling and cooing at me and the bagger was telling London what an angel she was. So I guess the moral of the story is I'd rather have MY kids in the regular old cart than have a kid who requires the car cart and a man who isn't very manly any day. After all, London didn't even mind being surrounded by cereal and lettuce. Can you really complain about that?