Puppy Woes

So today we took Nappy, commonly known to Aiden as "puppy" to Petco. Yes, Aiden has inherited my creativity when it comes to names...Not! But use a fire-starter once in his line of vision and he'll have figured out how to do it on his own. Of course momma won't know that he's figured this out until the fire alarm goes off, but I digress.

So we took Nappy to Petco. Fun, fun. She was desperately in need of grooming. She has those black, black, nails where you can't see the quick, so I rarely clip her nails because I'm so scared I'll hurt her. I've always wanted to take her to Petsmart to be groomed, but the price there was just so steep--nearly $75. We just couldn't bring ourselves to pay that much...after all, we have a college education to save for.

A few weeks ago, a co-worker of Daddy's pointed us to Petco where it is only $45 for a full grooming session (and we even splurged this time and paid $10 to get her teeth brushed too). She is looking spiffy-but her breath isn't as fresh as I thought the brushing would make it. I guess there is only so much you can do with dog breath.

So the grand adventure began around 9:40 when I loaded up Aiden and Nappy. That's always fun because Nappy begins jumping all over the car while Aiden laughs hysterically at her panic. Once we get moving she's fine, but it's always a rocky start to a car ride as I wrestle her off my lap and attempt to navigate the car.

We arrived at Petco and I dropped her off. They said it would be 3-4 hours. I thought that would be a good time for Aiden and I to hit the mall so that I could find some new clothes for the season.

So off we went. We'd barely been to the first store when Aiden began informing me "I'm done mama, go car ride now". Um...how about no?

Then he finds a new tactic: "Aiden have to go pee-pee"...That's the one thing I hate about our mall. I only know of ONE bathroom there and it's at the front of the food court. So off we headed to the food court (and no, it wasn't near the store we were in, so it was a hike).

Anyone want to guess what happens when we hit the food court? Yep...that's right..."Aiden NEED dinner!" (we're working on the breakfast/lunch/dinner concept...for now, they are interchangeable in his vocabulary).

So after telling him that we'd have lunch in a little bit (it was only 10:40 at this point), I got him to the bathrooms and we took care of that issue...And then off to find another store for mommy to shop...Yay!

And once again the chorus began "Aiden need wunch! Aiden go car ride! Aiden go home! Aiden go play! Aiden push stroller!" Ay yi yi!!! So in between the complaints I did manage to snag a couple pairs of shorts that fit and we checked out and headed to the food court. I figured if I fed him maybe he'd be a happier camper.

Wrong! We ate and then when we got up to continue our shopping, I still had to find myself some lip gloss, of course, Aiden decided he should be pushing the stroller. I said no (I had visions of Aiden plowing down everyone in his path and ramming into displays). He said, "Waahhhhh". At which point I had to plop him into the stroller. I start pushing the stroller and guess who is dragging his feet on the ground? That's right...Lil' ol' innocent Aiden. We had a quiet discussion about how he needed to put his feet on the foot strap or he was going to be unhappy when we DID get home. He decided it would be wise to comply with me. Momma ain't raisin' no fool!

So we made it to another store and of course he hops right out of his stroller as I'm browsing for Mother's Day cards and decides to push the stroller. I decided that him pushing the stroller in a confined area within a store was a good compromise so I gave him directions about how far he could go in the store and let him go. We had peace for a few minutes...Until he decided to lay the stroller down in the middle of the aisle to explore the wheels...That'd have been fine if no one else was in the store, but of course, there were other shoppers. Aiden wasn't happy that that game was ended so quickly.

This was the point where I decided that we should go to the kids play area in the mall and let him blow off some steam. This worked well until he announced that he had to go poo poo...and then when I tried to get his shoes on and get him loaded into his stroller he threw a fit--he didn't want to stop playing. (I'm rolling my eyes at this point).

So I strap my thrashing, screaming child into his stroller and head back through the food court. The screaming stops at this point and Aiden begins declaring again that he needs French fries. I swear the mall is set up with the only restrooms in the food court for precisely this type of situation.

They have some cool potties at this mall. They have a family restroom with big potties and little potties. I was really glad at first that it was a pint-sized potty--until he sat down to do his business. Aiden tends to sag his little bum into the toilet when he goes. I guess he doesn't want to miss the toilet and figures the closer he can get to the target, the better...Well, with the pint- sized potty Aiden sagged his butt in there and announced "Oh no, bottom all wet!" And that's when my excitement over the pint-sized potty ended.

At this point I look at my watch. Nappy is supposed to be ready between 1 and 2. It's only 12:15. So off we go back to the play area...1pm we leave, with more kicking and screaming. I swear people thought I was kidnapping the child. We got a lot of looks.

We arrive back at Petco around 1:20 and I'm told it'll be another 45 minutes to an hour. I wanted to cry. How was I supposed to entertain this child who was already well past naptime for the next hour?

Chick Fil-A! brilliant! So we went and ate again and Aiden got to play some more while I sat in a booth and attempted to keep my eyes open (I'm running on about 3 hours of sleep thanks to the lightning and thunder show that lasted all night last night). It was nice for about 20 minutes, until Aiden decided that it was much more fun to come in and out of the door to the glass-enclosed play area than to actually play in the play area. It started with him wanting a drink, then he had to poo poo...another fit as I forced him to put his shoes on to go to the potty (which ended up being an unsuccessful trip anyway), and then back to the play area. All of this time I'm waiting for Petco to call...and they don't. After an hour and 15 minutes and the frustration over Aiden's "the other side of the door is greener syndrome" mounting to the boiling point, I decided that enough was enough. I stuffed Aiden's shoes on him (as he screamed, and once again I had people taking mental notes of my face and my child's-- just in case an Amber Alert came out later today). And dragged him to the car. He was so tired, I was tired, I was ready to go postal on Petco and reclaim that dog...At this point I was thinking that there'd better be some bows in her hair for this to take 5 HOURS...

And finally, finally, the dog was ready...I swear, I need a 5 hour spa treatment after today! Why does my dog get one? Oh yeah, she's a bit less expensive...still!

Of course, that couldn't be the end of the story. There had to be one final blow...As I'm heading out towards the car, I have Aiden in one hand screaming (of course) because he wanted to hold puppy's leash, and the puppy on the other hand running willy-nilly nearly wrapping me up in said leash and my purse falls off of my shoulder and into the middle of the main traffic area of the parking lot. I manage to scoop it all up and drag Aiden the rest of the way to the car. As I open the door for him to get in, the dog jumps in past Aiden and the leash catches Aiden square in the back and throws him into the edge of the door...and now we have a real reason to cry as the welt rises up immediately and he screams, "Puppy hurt me!" through his tears...Sigh...And no, there were no bows for the dog.

But she does look much better...I'm still not sure if it was worth it. Ask me tomorrow!