Target Tantrum

Today, we went to the mall and then to Target...it was somewhat rainy and we needed to get out of the house for sanity's sake and to give Craig some peace and quiet so he could get work done. Both kids held up pretty well until the end of the Target trip...I would not let Ava out of the cart (she likes to look at the little toys they put on display in the checkout line--JERKS--but then she won't get back in the cart and usually ends up running around like a lunatic). Anyhow, she started to have a huge fit just as we hit the parking lot...she was screaming and crying because I wouldn't let her out. This conversation occurred as I was wrangling her into her car seat:

Ava: "LET ME OUT!!! I WANT TO RUN AWAY FROM HERE! I DON'T WANT TO STAY WITH YOU ANYMORE!"

Me: (trying to pin her down and strap her into the car seat) "No, I am not letting you run around in the parking lot. Too bad."

Ava: (struggling, screaming, and crying) "I WANT TO RUN AWAY! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Me: "I have too many groceries in the car...my ice cream is going to melt. I'll tell you what: let's go home so I can put away the groceries, and then I'll bring you back up here and you can run away from me then."

Ava: (calms down considerably) "Okay. We can do that."

Me: "So that's okay then? We can take the groceries home and then you can run away?"

Ava: "Okay!"


Well. Glad we found a solution we could agree upon. (Obviously I did NOT bring her back to Target so she could run away from home, she forgot all about it. She also forgot about her plan to sleep outside on the porch tonight, which she talked about the whole way home and was apparently part of the original plan to run away.)

**********

Me: "Ava, can you (insert what I am asking her to do here) please?"

Ava: "Yes, your Majesty!"

I blame the Disney princess movies...she's not being sarcastic, which is the funny part.

**********

Me: (playing with CJ, making him "dance," which always makes him smile and laugh)

Ava: "Mommy! Make CJ raise the roof!"