To: Store Manager at Ann Taylor
Haywood Mall
Greenville, South Carolina
I am writing this letter to apologize for "the incident" in your store on Saturday, February 19, 2011. If you were there that morning, you'd know what I'm referring to, but in case you have blocked it from your memory, I'll remind you of the major details:
Around 11:30 a.m., a cute, young, new mom entered your store, pushing a stroller with an adorable, sleeping 6-week old baby girl. You see, this mom had not gone shopping for "real" clothes for herself (maternity wear does not count!) in almost a year due to pregnancy, and she was looking for a dress to wear to her infant daughter's upcoming baptism. The young, fresh 30-something mom may have seemed slightly wide-eyed for several reasons:
a) Her wonderful (and very handsome) husband graciously volunteered to take their toddler son to the playground on this particular morning to give the mom a break and go on a rare girls-only shopping outing.
2) She doesn't get out much recently, and has basically been hibernating since the beginning of this year when her daughter was born, so the bustling Saturday morning crowds at the mall and store windows full of bright spring merchandise, giant sale signs, and promises of her fashionable future were almost too much to handle.
3) She knew that she had exactly 2.5 hours from the time she left her house until that sweet, hungry baby would need to be fed, so the clock was ticking...
The mom was happily browsing dresses in your store when her infant decided to start fussing a little bit. Some of the customers smiled politely, peeking into the stroller, oohing and aahing at the newborn. As the baby's cries became louder and sharper, these glances changed into the "Why can't you quiet your child?" kind of looks, and the mom knew that she'd never be able to get out of the mall without causing a major scene. So, she did what any experienced mother would do: she grabbed an item of clothing off the shelf with the pretense of trying it on, and quickly wheeled the stroller into the large, handicapped accessible fitting room. She quickly unbuckled the now-wailing baby, and nursed her for several minutes in the privacy of the dressing room, proud that she had salvaged the situation without major drama. And then, all at once, several things happened:
- The baby had an enormous poop blow-out while feeding, which could be heard by all patrons of the fitting rooms.
- The mom changed the diaper and outfit of the once again unhappy baby, while hoping that the woman in the fitting room next to her didn't mind the smell and commotion.
-The baby burped, which turned into projectile vomit all over the mom's shirt as well the chair/floor of the fitting room. The mom got down on her hands and knees (propping the baby upright over one shoulder) and furiously scrubbed the carpet with a burp cloth to remove evidence of the debacle.
The now-frazzled mom decided that they had better high-tail it out of there, so she plopped the baby back into the stroller, pushing it with one hand and holding the saggy, dirty diaper and poop-covered baby outfit in the other... while trying to cover the spit-up on her shirt and not appear like a crazy shoplifter running out of the store. People cleared a path for this mom, with alternating looks of disgust and sympathy, as she made a beeline for her car.
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So, I ask for your pardon for the disruption that we may have caused, and your patience to remember what a challenge it is to adjust to life with a tiny, new boss. I also want to praise your webmaster for creating such a user-friendly store website that we had the opportunity to use from the comfort of our own couch upon our arrival home, in order to continue our shopping experience. I hope you will welcome me back soon, when I am ready to attempt a future trip (alone) to your store. Thank you.
Sincerely,
That Cute, Young, New Mom
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
Quotes of the Week
Overheard at our house this week:
During a routine phone call to check in while Daddy was at work, Mark heard Carrie shout: "Luke, don't throw the football at your baby sister. NOOOOOO, LUKE!!! Mark, I've gotta hang up..." (Leah screaming in background).
Follow up note: Our infant is tough, and received her brother's perfect spiral to the forehead with no permanent injury.
As Mark crawled into bed one night, he attempted to find a spot wedged among the 70 lb. female black lab, 6 week-old baby girl, and sleepy wife. He commented, "Wow, I never thought I'd be sharing my bed with 3 women." The humor was lost on his drowsy audience.
Luke announced: "Baby Leah needs to get bigger so that she can play with toys and drink beer."
Mark and I looked at each other quizzically before we both burst out laughing. Seriously, where does that child come up with these things?
Leah IS getting bigger by the day, but much to Luke's dismay, she won't be drinking beer for a loooonnnggg time. At her one-month well check, Leah was already 11 lb. 6 oz. (96th percentile for weight) and had grown almost 3 inches since birth (95th percentile for height). I guess we just have really big babies, and it is reassuring that our daughter is thriving and healthy. We discover that Leah has new "rolls" almost daily- she is already turning into quite a roly poly baby, which I love. At 6 weeks old, Leah has great head control and is much happier to do tummy time than her older brother ever was. Luke likes to lie down beside his sister for tummy time, and is very sweet, encouraging her by saying, "Good job, Lee-Lee!"
(Someone has fantastic bed-head in this picture.)
Leah now coos and is starting to find her "voice", and rewarded us with her first social smiles last week. She's definitely a second child: We have taken fewer pictures of her so far, and I have already broken many of my self-imposed "rules" that I enforced when Luke was an infant (i.e. she often ends up sleeping in our bed, she nurses on demand without any structured schedule, Winnie licks her face, etc.). She's still not a great p.m. sleeper, and needs to be inclined or held, and she's starting to have longer alert, awake periods during the day. We are enjoying her snuggles and napping when we can.
Leah smiling while playing in her activity gym.
Speaking of naps, this is the sight that I encountered today when I walked into Luke's room. It's a bit like "Where's Waldo?" and shows how much Luke loves playing with his "amidals" right now:
We are basking in the warm weather here this week and have definite spring fever. I successfully took both children to the zoo by myself this morning, and it was one of those deliciously perfect stay at home mom days. I had so much fun with my kids, and am feeling that 6 weeks after Leah's birth, that we are doing very well and creating a new routine as a family.
During a routine phone call to check in while Daddy was at work, Mark heard Carrie shout: "Luke, don't throw the football at your baby sister. NOOOOOO, LUKE!!! Mark, I've gotta hang up..." (Leah screaming in background).
Follow up note: Our infant is tough, and received her brother's perfect spiral to the forehead with no permanent injury.
As Mark crawled into bed one night, he attempted to find a spot wedged among the 70 lb. female black lab, 6 week-old baby girl, and sleepy wife. He commented, "Wow, I never thought I'd be sharing my bed with 3 women." The humor was lost on his drowsy audience.
Luke announced: "Baby Leah needs to get bigger so that she can play with toys and drink beer."
Mark and I looked at each other quizzically before we both burst out laughing. Seriously, where does that child come up with these things?
Leah IS getting bigger by the day, but much to Luke's dismay, she won't be drinking beer for a loooonnnggg time. At her one-month well check, Leah was already 11 lb. 6 oz. (96th percentile for weight) and had grown almost 3 inches since birth (95th percentile for height). I guess we just have really big babies, and it is reassuring that our daughter is thriving and healthy. We discover that Leah has new "rolls" almost daily- she is already turning into quite a roly poly baby, which I love. At 6 weeks old, Leah has great head control and is much happier to do tummy time than her older brother ever was. Luke likes to lie down beside his sister for tummy time, and is very sweet, encouraging her by saying, "Good job, Lee-Lee!"
(Someone has fantastic bed-head in this picture.)
Leah now coos and is starting to find her "voice", and rewarded us with her first social smiles last week. She's definitely a second child: We have taken fewer pictures of her so far, and I have already broken many of my self-imposed "rules" that I enforced when Luke was an infant (i.e. she often ends up sleeping in our bed, she nurses on demand without any structured schedule, Winnie licks her face, etc.). She's still not a great p.m. sleeper, and needs to be inclined or held, and she's starting to have longer alert, awake periods during the day. We are enjoying her snuggles and napping when we can.
Leah smiling while playing in her activity gym.
Speaking of naps, this is the sight that I encountered today when I walked into Luke's room. It's a bit like "Where's Waldo?" and shows how much Luke loves playing with his "amidals" right now:
We are basking in the warm weather here this week and have definite spring fever. I successfully took both children to the zoo by myself this morning, and it was one of those deliciously perfect stay at home mom days. I had so much fun with my kids, and am feeling that 6 weeks after Leah's birth, that we are doing very well and creating a new routine as a family.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Superbowl Sunday Tidbits
This is how our kids began a sleepy Sunday morning today. Every day when Luke wakes up, he asks, "Where's We-ah?" and wants to snuggle with his baby sister. He closes his eyes and pretends to sleep beside her. Of course, we think it's priceless:
But apparently, our children find it exasperating to have their parents take pictures of them so early in the morning:
Luke also watched part of the Superbowl with Daddy tonight. Thanks to DVR and videos, Luke has never really watched commercials before, and he was fascinated with them this evening. Here's a cute video clip of our little Superbowl fan, talking about the best part of the "game":
Click here to see Luke's opinion of the game.
Also, I'm behind in my blogging about our latest visitors. Last week, Grandpa and Beanie (Aunt Jamie) came to meet Leah. We had a great time with them, and our kids loved all of the attention! Here are a few of my favorite pictures from their visit:
The kids.
Luke insisted on holding Beanie's hand while they watched a video together!
Beanie and her niece.
Grandpa's pink girls.
Proud grandfather.
Our friends also came up from Atlanta this week for a quick day trip, and Ashleigh gave Luke a special "present", as she grabbed him for a kiss! I think that this picture is adorable, as it looks like the cheerleader kissing the winning quarterback (as he holds the football):
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Motherhood x 2
My friend recently sent me a card that said, "Welcome to Motherhood x 2!" This really resonated with me, as I am currently surviving my first week (without help here) in my role as a stay-at-home mom of 2 children. My "new normal" has included several milestones for me, which I am proud to document, and may elicit a chuckle from any mom who has been there:
1) Yesterday was my first full day alone with both children, and I didn't send out an S.O.S. call to Mark until 11:45 a.m. to "please come home for lunch a few minutes early because your son is a terrorist and has been in time-out for most of the morning, and I can't deal with him anymore." After a brief mid-day Daddy intervention, we were all much more pleasant, disciplined, and fed. I managed to get both children down for naps at the same time in the afternoon, AND I showered before Mark came home from work in the evening = HUGE accomplishments for Day #1, in my opinion.
2) Today, I actually left the house with both children, something that I feared that I would never be able to do. Granted, I did build in an hour of extra time before leaving for Kindermusik (which is approximately 7 minutes away), just in case someone spit up, needed to be fed, had a blow-out poopy diaper, protested getting in his/her car seat, had a tantrum, etc. We made it to class in plenty of time, and although Leah didn't sit quietly in her infant carrier as I had hoped, Luke didn't seem to mind that his baby sister needed to be held and he shared his instruments with her nicely during music class. I figured out the logistics of getting everyone loaded in and out of the car, and was feeling rather victorious on our drive back home this morning. We pulled our car into the garage, and I unbuckled both children and took a screaming Leah inside to be fed, since she was apparently starving. I plopped on the couch and called out to Luke to take off his shoes and come inside, and breathed a sigh of relief that we were home. Then all was quiet as my infant hungrily nursed.
"Luke," I called a few moments later.
"Yes?!" came his reply.
"What are you doing?" I responded, since it had been unusually silent for a few minutes, and he hadn't emerged from the laundry room/garage yet.
"Just coloring, Mommy," I heard.
Coloring?! Uh-oh, I thought. I immediately picked up Leah, as she continued to feed, and walked into the laundry room to find Luke still sitting on the steps going out to the garage (where he takes off his shoes), where an enormous new piece of "artwork" now adorned our house. The brick garage steps and cement floor were covered in lovely pastel-colored sidewalk chalk drawings, and my 2 1/2 year old was also decorated with chalk dust from head to toe. Luke proudly grinned up at me as I stood above him, open mouthed and astonished at how quickly he was able to create this "masterpiece". At that exact moment, the garage door opened as Mark pulled in for lunch, to find me, (half topless and still nursing a baby- now in front of the entire neighborhood), gaping at my chalk-covered son and garage.
And to think that moments earlier, I was almost gloating about "how easy it was" to take both children out in public, and how I successfully handled all the transitions that it entailed...
So, if anyone has any ideas as to how to remove chalk from concrete or brick indoors (without hosing everything down), let me know. The damp rag and dry cloth that we used resulted in beautiful, colorful smears everywhere. At least, as my mom pointed out, it's not crayon on the walls.... YET. We'll save that for next time I attempt to leave the house with both children.
1) Yesterday was my first full day alone with both children, and I didn't send out an S.O.S. call to Mark until 11:45 a.m. to "please come home for lunch a few minutes early because your son is a terrorist and has been in time-out for most of the morning, and I can't deal with him anymore." After a brief mid-day Daddy intervention, we were all much more pleasant, disciplined, and fed. I managed to get both children down for naps at the same time in the afternoon, AND I showered before Mark came home from work in the evening = HUGE accomplishments for Day #1, in my opinion.
2) Today, I actually left the house with both children, something that I feared that I would never be able to do. Granted, I did build in an hour of extra time before leaving for Kindermusik (which is approximately 7 minutes away), just in case someone spit up, needed to be fed, had a blow-out poopy diaper, protested getting in his/her car seat, had a tantrum, etc. We made it to class in plenty of time, and although Leah didn't sit quietly in her infant carrier as I had hoped, Luke didn't seem to mind that his baby sister needed to be held and he shared his instruments with her nicely during music class. I figured out the logistics of getting everyone loaded in and out of the car, and was feeling rather victorious on our drive back home this morning. We pulled our car into the garage, and I unbuckled both children and took a screaming Leah inside to be fed, since she was apparently starving. I plopped on the couch and called out to Luke to take off his shoes and come inside, and breathed a sigh of relief that we were home. Then all was quiet as my infant hungrily nursed.
"Luke," I called a few moments later.
"Yes?!" came his reply.
"What are you doing?" I responded, since it had been unusually silent for a few minutes, and he hadn't emerged from the laundry room/garage yet.
"Just coloring, Mommy," I heard.
Coloring?! Uh-oh, I thought. I immediately picked up Leah, as she continued to feed, and walked into the laundry room to find Luke still sitting on the steps going out to the garage (where he takes off his shoes), where an enormous new piece of "artwork" now adorned our house. The brick garage steps and cement floor were covered in lovely pastel-colored sidewalk chalk drawings, and my 2 1/2 year old was also decorated with chalk dust from head to toe. Luke proudly grinned up at me as I stood above him, open mouthed and astonished at how quickly he was able to create this "masterpiece". At that exact moment, the garage door opened as Mark pulled in for lunch, to find me, (half topless and still nursing a baby- now in front of the entire neighborhood), gaping at my chalk-covered son and garage.
And to think that moments earlier, I was almost gloating about "how easy it was" to take both children out in public, and how I successfully handled all the transitions that it entailed...
So, if anyone has any ideas as to how to remove chalk from concrete or brick indoors (without hosing everything down), let me know. The damp rag and dry cloth that we used resulted in beautiful, colorful smears everywhere. At least, as my mom pointed out, it's not crayon on the walls.... YET. We'll save that for next time I attempt to leave the house with both children.
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