Frostop

Today, I scheduled two dreaded doctor/dentist appointments for Ham and a trip to the grocery store all in the same day. I figured that all of these situations would be rough because they involved shots, teeth cleaning and a really long grocery list. So I jam packed them all in the same day to get it over with.

Expecting a two year old to behave through all of this is a lot to ask, but I was pretty surprised.

It's only been a recent thing, where Ham shrieks when he doesn't get his way and it doesn't matter where we are. You would think that being the somewhat shy kid that he is, he would avoid making such a statement in public, but on the contrary he's blissfully unaware of everyone who stops what they are doing to stare.

I always act busy like I have no idea that my son's volume has reached an ear drum splitting volume. I calmly scan the shelves like I'm thinking hard about whether we should get organic canned tomatoes or the regular stuff, but I can feel the piercing eyes of those who want me, for the love of Pete, to do something about it. But truth be told, toddlers know they have you hostage when your cart is full and they know there is no real place for time out in a grocery store. It's a hostage situation that can only be remedied with cookie bribery.

Today, when he tried to heave his body out of the cart, I'm ashamed to say I told him that I saw a dog running around the store and we had better go see if we could find it. He sat back in his seat and started looking down the isles. This kept him entertained for quite a while.

The things you do.

But today there were no screams, just lots of bribery and of course the dog search.

The doctor/dentist visits went smoothly too.

At one point as the dentist cleaned his teeth, she remarked at how good and well-behaved he was. "Whatever you are doing, it works," she said.

"Lots of discipline," I said smiling and thinking of the cookies I gave him a few hours before.

We ended the last doctor visit with a shot that Ham barely flinched for.  The doctor led him down the hall for his sticker. She gave him a Thomas the Train sticker and as soon as she handed it to him, he asked for "Another one choo choo". He placed one on each side of his shirt.

On our way home we made a quick stop at Frostop for French fries and Rootbeer float which made Ham so hyped up on sugar that he walked around dancing to the 50's music that was playing with a big grin on his face.

It was the perfect end to a busy day.