Mom badge of honor

Just like the girl scouts, I think we should get badges of honor when we accomplish certain mom things for the first time. It sure would be nice to be recognized for navigating the milestones of motherhood. Today’s first was the very first public temper tantrum. Oh what fun! I have no idea what set it off. Maggie was contentedly sitting in the cart at Target, snacking, and looking at all the faces of babies on products in that department. All of a sudden, out of the blue, she was turning in her seat, trying to reach into the cart and was screaming “BABY!” I tried giving her the pack of wipes with the picture of the baby, NOT what she wanted. The tag from an article of clothing, nope, wrong again mom. Her baby doll that we brought along…are you a crazy woman! The shrieks and cries escalated into a full blown fit when I decided that was the moment to try and strap her in the cart. She was inconsolable! I tried taking her out to give her hugs (not easy with an 8 month pregnant belly) and she wanted none of it. She just squirmed free and proceeded to pull the clothes off the racks. So I put her back in the cart, ignored her screaming, and kept shopping. What else was I to do? Of course, everyone in the store was looking at me like “What are you doing to that poor child?!”

While writhing around in the cart with huge tears and a runny nose, she managed to throw the contents of the cart on the floor. At this point, I thought that "distraction" would be the best tactic to employ. So we head to where else, the toy department! Maggie sees the big bin of plastic balls and in between screams excitedly proclaims "Balls!" I try and fish one out through the top of that 9-foot tall bin, again 8 months pregnant here. After we acquire three balls of various sizes, Maggie begins to calm down. She has a sip of water, gets some hugs and kisses, and is back to her normal, happy self as if nothing has happened. I ended up buying two of the three balls, and of course now worry that I am rewarding her behavior. Oh well, I wanted to get her a few more balls anyway.