I put the Huggies on top

I didn’t realize what a luxury grocery shopping sans kids was until I had one myself.  Having a nursing newborn at home can make shopping a little tricky since you are given only a small window of freedom to get things done.  My most recent shopping expedition was an interesting experience.  I left baby at home with daddy and raced to the grocery store to get my shopping done before baby’s next feeding.  I zipped through the aisles like a determined scavenger looking for the items I needed and ignoring the items I didn’t.  I showed amazing restraint by staying away from the brightly colored sale signs and focused on the list.  I learned to make executive decisions on every purchase.  “Do I need this?  We are running a little low but we could probably go another week.  But it’s on sale…Stop thinking and put it back.  If you needed it then you would have already put it in the cart.  Hurry up, the baby eats in T minus 45 minutes.”

This trip was different than any other trip, though, because this was the first time I had to buy diapers.  When I got to the baby aisle I searched for the brand and size I needed.  I was in over my head trying to find the difference between the variety of diapers.  Hypoallergenic, leak proof, sensitive skin, comfortable legs, Mickey Mouse or Winnie the Pooh?  I finally decided on a pack of diapers when I saw another mom in the baby aisle passing me.  Her kids were grown so she was looking in the pull ups section.  She pulled out two packs of pull ups with a humble expertise.  I smiled at her and she smiled back a knowing smile.  I put the Huggies in my cart and realized that I couldn’t be more proud of being a mom.  I suddenly wanted every shopper I passed to notice the bright red bag of Winnie the Pooh diapers on the top of my cart.  I wanted everybody to know that I was a mom.  I never realized what a luxury diaper shopping was until I had a baby myself.