Uh oh, better call Graco

Today I thought to myself: "I'm sure Emily would behave for a really quick shopping trip to get mommy a dress". I don't know why I continue to convince myself of such ridiculous things, but I do. That is why I ended up in the parking lot of Ann Taylor Loft today juggling clothes, a couple bags of groceries and a screaming baby, a fashionable stream of baby barf trickling slowly down the shoulder of my coat. I was one of THOSE moms. You know, the ones you saw when you were young and childless and thought "I will never look that dishevelled and out of control when I'M a mom". Well maybe you won't you silly young childless people you, but I certainly did.

It was no surprise then, when I started to pull out of my parking spot and heard "Thunk!" from behind my car. I pulled back into my space, jumped out of my car and, casting casual sidelong glances to the right and left to see if there was anyone watching, sheepishly folded up my now broken Graco stroller and threw it in my trunk.

Now some people have said "At least Emily wasn't IN the stroller when you hit it". Yes, that is true. But do they really think I would've forgotten my BABY was sitting behind my car? A stroller is one thing, your very own flesh and blood is another. And maybe I'm just a little irritated already because I was informed while I was shopping that you would never see a baby in China dressed as scantily as Emily was during the winter (apparently this woman was so horrified by the tiny strip of skin showing where Emily's pants had pulled up above her socks that she failed to notice the baby sized fur-lined parka and earflap hat lovingly knit by her mother that she was also sporting) but I would hope that people don't see me as the type of person who would accidentally run over her own child because she left her sitting alone (and dressed in next to nothing!) in a chilly parking lot. Because the way Emily was yelling, only a deaf person could have forgotten her...

But the good news is that upon further inspection it appears only the wheel is broken, so I will be putting a call in to Graco tomorrow to try to wheedle a new wheel because those strollers ain't cheap.

My dress was though! $17 for a black satin evening dress at Ann Taylor Loft! Now I'm set for all the glamorous events I will be attending the next two weekends. I think that makes the trip totally worth it, stroller casualties and all.

-Sara