At the grocery store last week…
We kept bumping into the same lady over and over.
“We” meaning, of course, me and my crew of:
The baby in the front of the cart,
Love his little snaggle-toothed grin
The toddler in the back,
Know what? The 2yo has lately been camera-shy, so we'll throw in another picture of SuperCuteBaby
4 and 6 year olds pushing mini-carts.
The Dynamic Duo
Thankfully the big kids weren’t actually bumping into said lady. It’s always a little scary when they’ve got those kid-size carts, you know. Maybe your children stay right next to you, content to just walk patiently by your side. Mine take advantage of empty aisles and race their carts from one end to the other, or -better yet- start from opposite sides and crash into each other. BANG! They love it.
Why do I let them?
I don’t know. Insanity, most likely. But then, you have to be a bit crazy to take all these kids with you anywhere public, so the world shouldn’t be all that surprised when I simply warn them to watch out for other people and let them carry on with their shenanigans. Don’t worry. I crack down if they start getting too wild near other people: mean face, mostly-empty threats and everything.
Anyway,
we kept crossing paths with this nice, friendly lady.
When we met in the frozen food section, it seemed that she finally counted them up and realized they were all mine. Bless them for looking alike! No one ever asks if they all belong to me.
The older-than-60 crowd say, “What a beautiful family.”
The younger-than-60 say, as Nice Lady did,
“Wow. You have your hands full.”
To which I always reply happily,
“Yep. It’s lots of fun.”
Unlike most, however, Nice Lady kept going and asked the unasked question,
“Are you done?”
Good thing she was a Nice Lady or I might think that was a bit nosey. 
As it was, I just smiled (in spite of the exhaustion and nausea) and replied,
“Nope. Not yet.”
Insert the charming C, now, only too happy to inform her,
“Mommy’s having another baby in March and I hope it’s a girl!”
Wasn’t it nice of my darling daughter to share the joy? It was pretty fun, actually, to watch Nice Lady’s eyes glaze over.
“Wow. One was enough for me!”
I was a little a loss for how to reply to that one. I mean, what do you say?
“Lucky you.”
“Pansy.”
“Poor only child.”
“Well, we’re not all cut out to run our own zoo.”
None of these seemed appropriate, you know?
So I didn’t say anything, and thus ended our interactions with Nice Lady. She seemed in a hurry to get away from the Crazy Lady With All Those Kids. Pity. Or maybe she was just hoping to get away without bruises on her ankles from those cursed kid-size carts.
And then I thought, well, if random strangers in grocery stores can know, why not Blogland? The only downside is that I didn’t get to watch your eyes glaze over.
Bummer.
Yay, our kids will only be WEEKS apart! How super exciting for you!!! I’m sorry about the next 3 months though. Or 9 months. I’m REALLY glad my first trimester will be over soon. Congrats!!
Although, you are a bit crazy, you know. You’ve been married only 2 years longer than us, and have 2 extra kids in that time… good thing your home has ample room!
What is this with blogland? It seems every blog I read has recently announced a new pregnancy! Congratulations!!
Better get with it then, huh?
Oh, another incentive for me to NOT start a blog. Yeah for me!!
That is awesome! Congratulations! I love hearing about new babies on the way. If I had been the nice lady at the store I probably would have jumped for joy for you, even if we were complete strangers, because I really get THAT excited about any new baby or pregnancy that I hear about.
WOW! Congrats! No eyes glazed over here, just lots of admiration. Oh, and I had a lady in the Houston airport ask me if I was done when she found out I was having a boy…and I only had Audrey with me. Guess she figured I’d filled my quota with one boy and one girl (never mind the other little boy sitting at the gate with his dad)! Audrey’s been begging for a sister, too, but I’ve got to see how life with three goes first.
I don’t think I knew you’re having a boy. YAY! Boys are awesome.
Congratulations on adding another little “Smitherene” to the crew. I think your a wonderful mom and all the little ones are richly blessed! Lotsa love.
Yay! So I saw this quote the other day… it can be your new response:
“If you think my hands are full, you should see my heart.”
Isn’t that warm and fuzzy?!
Congratulations on the baby! Good thing your kids are ridiculously cute… you SHOULD have lots of them! Jake and I still quote Mr. 4 Years Old occasionally.
Right now, I can’t even wrap my head around having TWO children. They say you grow into it?…
Aw, I love that quote! I’ll have to try it out some day. Maybe print it on the back of a shirt or something.
And don’t worry. Two kids isn’t necessarily twice as hard as one. You’ll have all kinds of mommy skills under your belt the next time around! It really does get easier in many, many ways. More complicated, but easier.
I already congratulated you on Facebook (which isn’t as ‘nice’ as on a blog, but it’s so much quicker), so I just wanted to say I vote for “Pansy” as a response . . . because you know it will happen again.
Sending energy and un-nausea your way! (I wish it came in a spray.)
YAY! Congratulations are in order!!! To the “HANDS ARE FULL” comment, which I get quite a bit (and we only have three, geeze! You’d think I’d had a football team or something), I always reply “yes, but better full than empty.” And I always get a huge range of backtracking comments afterward! I don’t say it to be mean, but it sure gives me some ammunition and good pride that I have these wonderful children, and what a blessing it is to have them! (kids with some not-so-wonderful antics… every so often… haha, who am I kidding!)
But then again, I don’t think I’m as nice as you are, so maybe I can get away with my little digging reply!
SOOOO excited for you! Congratulations for sure!