Tough Love

What do you do when everyone wakes up at 6 am? Well, I thought about baking delicious homemade blueberry muffins (for about a second). I considered taking a power walk. I could even fold laundry.

But, in the end, the french toast at IHOP was calling my name!

I think Francesca broke a new pancake consumption record.

Since we had such a good Saturday, I decided to push my luck and go to Target today. Catherine is having a birthday this week and I needed to get some supplies.

I managed to drag my mom and Grandma along with me for moral support. Plus, I was excited because they have a really cool handicap tag so we can park up front. Of course the tag did expire in 2007 and it is from Florida, but we really like to live dangerously.

My plan was that Catherine would happily stroll down the toy aisle and choose a birthday present, which I would quickly slip into the cart without her knowing about it. Such a thrill.

Catherine's plans somewhat deviated from my little fantasy. She planned on holding onto everything she saw and buying it RIGHT NOW. She didn't care that her birthday was not today. She was tired and she was hungry. She wanted me to carry her throughout the entire store. She let the entire store know this.

I decided to do the whole "natural consequence" thing and I told her if she didn't stop screaming, I was going to take her home. I gave her a 2 minute warning and a whole speech about proper behavior in a store. I told her she was going to miss out on all the fun. I was feeling very empowered for about a minute.

Of course, Catherine immediately saw the error of her ways and apologized. NOT. While driving the 5 miles home, I congratulated myself for being so consistent and making such an impression on Catherine's young mind. Meanwhile, Catherine was looking peacefully out the window and counting trees. She seemed pretty darn happy. It was very annoying.


This is what I managed to buy before we left the store. All of these supplies were crucial for my survival. Too bad Catherine will not be having any of it for her birthday.

By the way, Catherine wants a cake shaped like a fire truck.
Given my history of baking, I'm sure it will turn out to be sensational.