So I just had the last 4 days off of work and Brad went deer hunting in Alexandria so I thought, What better way to spend Friday but have a Mother/Daughter Day! I could just imagine! Rylee and I would go to Duluth to spend some bonding time together, do a little shopping, ride the Quarter Rides at the mall, have some ice cream, maybe even see if there were kittens at Petco! Mother/Daughter Day=DISASTER! Sorry, but it was true! Here's how it went:
By the time we got on the road it was 12:30. Rylee slept the whole way to Duluth, good sign I thought. Not. We got to Walmart where I needed to pick a few things up and she did really good. I even let her pick out a toy for under $10. In the check out line, the lady in front of us went on and on about hand sanitizer. Which got me thinking, with all the crud going around it probably wouldn't be a bad idea...So I get Rylee in the back seat and frantically try to get rid of all the germs we just picked up at Wally world (suddenly I'm a germ-a-phob). Then as we get towards the mall I realize I have NO IDEA how to get TO the mall because of the construction going on. Which puts me in a bit of a panic. Suddenly from the back seat, Rylee SCREAMS, "MOMMY! You forgot to buckle me IN!! How come you forgot to buckle me in!" So I'm about to have a heart attack as I look in the backseat and see that, sure enough, I forgot to buckle her in! OMG! Then she yells, "I am NOT very happy about this!" NEITHER WAS I!!! (BAD MOMMY INCIDENT #1-ALWAYS buckle in your child...it's the law!)
So we made it safely to the mall and I scooped her up in a hug, still a little shaken up. But that was under the bridge now, thank God she was ok. We are just going to forget about it and have fun, I tell myself. And THEN IT STARTS! The whining, the hiding under clothes racks, running up the aisle of DSW with a threatening look on her face that she is not going to stop, but once again hide so I would NEVER find her. (Which of course left me running, in the shoes I JUST put on, leaving my old ones sit there along with my purse for the taking.) All day she would just NOT LISTEN! So the stress started up and we'd only hit up a few spots. Suddenly I wasn't in the mood to shop, let alone go to look at kittens. So I decided to wrap it up with dinner and head home, where I knew it was safe. But the kid WOULD NOT EAT! I even let her pick what she wanted. ugh! And she ran around the table and poked herself in the eye with a Balloon on a stick that was given to her at the pizza place.
I ran out of ideas to try to get her to behave without bending her over my knee in public. So suddenly, before I could think twice, I told her that the guy sitting alone behind us was going to take her and I was going to go home and she was going to live with him for the rest of her life. BAD MOMMY #2-Never threaten your child with a stranger.
THAT didn't work either. She just argued with me. I finally found the perfect threat next...NO...ICE...CREAM! THAT had her bawling! Which ended up not being such a good idea. As we walked away we say a little girl eating ice cream and Rylee cried, "THAT little girl has icecream and I don't have ANY!" Which I'll admit, broke my heart. I wanted SO bad to turn around and get her an icecream cone after that. But that wouldn't prove my point or teach her a lesson. So I told her that little girl probably listened to her Mommy and ate her dinner too.
By the time I got to the car I was furious again. I drove ALL the way to Duluth for nothing. I wasted an entire day. I should've stayed home and cleaned. For a good 20 minutes Rylee cried on the way home. I cranked the music. At one point she mumbled something that I thought was an apology. So I turned down the radio and asked her "What?" In the snotty voice I have EVER heard come out of her mouth she replies, "My Daddy is going to be very, very, VERY mad at you and you are going to be in VERY BIG TROUBLE!" UUGGGHHH!!! So I crank the music back up! A few minutes later again, she mumbles something that I HOPE is an apology. Nope. This time she tells me, "My friends do NOT like you!" BAD MOMMY #3- "YOU DON'T HAVE ANY FRIENDS!!!" and again I crank the tunes. Ok, so I stooped to a 3 year olds level...not to mentioned acted like a pre-teen. I just wanted to cry. This was the worse day EVER. Not too much longer Rylee tells me, "I'm sorry, I promise I'll be good. Can we go back to Duluth?" NO! But I did forgive her, of course.
I was exhausted. And went to bed early. And will not do this again for a very long time. I feel much better getting this all out,
now I must write my speech for the Worst Mother of the Year Award....
