Mommy Confession #7

Today, the girls and I met my little sister for lunch at Legacy Village.  There is a new play area for toddlers there, so we thought it would be a good place to spend some time together.  Everything was going well until a few minutes into our meal.  First, Ava started to take some of Mia's food which didn't go over well.  I mediated that problem and sat back down to eat.  Then, a gust of wind came by and blew the paper wrapper the girls were eating off of on to the ground.  The meltdowns began and I hurried to replace lost food.  Ava munched happily, while Mia seemed to have a hard time recovering.  I gave the baby to my sister and tried to figure out what was bothering Mia.  I'm not really sure what happened, but a level 10 tantrum was about to ruin our afternoon.  After a few helpless minutes of trying to figure out what had Mia so mad, it became clear that my only option was to strap her into the stroller and get out of there.  I felt set after set of eyes watching as my screaming toddler did everything she could to avoid her fate.  For some reason, getting the other girls situated and the table cleaned off seemed to take longer than usual, allowing more time to attract attention that I didn't want.  My little sister did her best to help, but there was nothing either of us could do except for walk . . . quickly.  By the time we reached the car the baby was crying, Ava was upset and Mia was still at level 10.  I buckled them all in, apologized to my sister for having our time cut short and cranked the air in the car.  There is nothing that will bring on sweat quicker than wrestling a tantrum-throwing-toddler in public.  Just as we drove away, I remembered I needed to feed the baby.  A red light allowed me time to reach back and prop a bottle in my crying babies mouth.  Unfortunately, as I turned out of the shopping center, I heard the bottle fall against the door.  Eliana's screaming began to rival Mia's.  It took every ounce of my will power not to call Mate at work so he could enjoy the screaming with me.  At the next red light, I put the car in park and practically crawled in the back seat to re-prop the bottle.  I had two out of three girls happy and hoped it would stay that way for the rest of the ride.  About two minutes before we got home, Mia began to tucker out.  While I must admit that it is terribly embarrassing to have a child act like this in public, I refuse to bribe them or give in to their demands in order to make the behavior stop.  I think I won this round of Mommy vs Child, but it's not a game I want to play again anytime soon.  

The calm before the storm