Why Is Everyone Looking At Us?

Matthew and I just returned from a trip to the grocery store, and well, let's be brutally honest, Matthew is lucky he returned. By the time we check out, Matthew has greeted everyone we pass with a "Hi" and a "Bye" or a "See soon" and he has touched every item in the basket. Some of them he's opened. Some of them he's sampled. At least one shoe is removed and sometimes even a sock. One time Matthew went in the grocery store with 2 socks and 2 shoes and returned with 1 sock and 2 shoes. This morning, he used his own runny nose as a styling product for his hair. I'm not kidding.

Motherhood is not what I expected.

I continually say, "Matthew, no. Stop. Put that down. Stop. We're almost done. Please don't." But in my head I'm saying, "Why you little . . ., if I have to tell you to put that down one more time, I'm gonna . . ." And I'm fighting the urge to strangle him.

Thank God for day care, because there are some days we both need to go do our own thing. Matthew needs to sit and read books with his friends and play on the playground with the other kids and learn how to conform in a classroom setting. If this were a hundred years ago, he'd totally be out in the field picking beans.