As usual, we were running late to get her haircut (I despise waking Mellie up, and she was still napping), but it wasn't a big deal when we arrived at Cool Cuts 4 Kids about ten minutes late. Once I figured out we were supposed to sign in, we sat down and waited. I was pretty sure that the hair cut was not going to go over very well with her highness, so I took Mellie over to the area where they were cutting hair so she could see all the kids getting their hair cut.
We didn't have to wait very long before it was our turn. The hairdresser asked if we could put her in a chair by herself - it was all decked out like a fire engine, very child- friendly. I didn't think Mellie was going to go for it, but we tried anyhow. Here come the waterworks! The hairdresser suggested she sit in my lap, and I heartily agreed. She put a protector on me and another on Mellie. She was not thrilled with this and immediately yanked it off. I told the hair dresser that it was fine. She was great, I didn't even have to ask her to not spray the water directly on Mellie. She sprayed her comb a couple of times and went to work. She asked me what I wanted, and I told her I just wanted her to even it out and make it look less like a mullet. We discussed how much to cut off, and she went to work.
As I suspected, Mellie was not happy with this turn of events. She screamed bloody murder even before the cutting started. The other kids turned to see what was upsetting her so much. Fortunately, the hairdresser was able to do a really nice job really quickly. She put a little bow in Mellie's hair and offered to take a picture of us, which I took her up on. She gave us a little certificate, and put a lock of her hair in a little baggie for us to take with us. I went and paid, and gave her a really nice tip.
Afterwards, we went a couple of doors down to the gelato place and everyone got some ice cream. Mellie really enjoyed this, plus she enjoyed the little kids size table and chairs that they had.
Once we were finished, we went a couple of more doors down to Half Price Books were we picked out three books for Mellie. Ronnie looked for one of his textbooks, which he couldn't find. By now, Mellie was getting fussy. I convinced her to calm down so Ronnie would agree to go to the grocery store. We stopped at the new HEB at Highway 6 and Highway 90.
Mellie agreed to sit in the cart like a normal child from the parking lot into the store. Once we were in the store, she decided she'd prefer to be in the actual cart, which was fine. I stopped at several sample locations and got some coupons and information about some products which I placed in the cart. Mellie kept reaching for them to wreak havoc, so I moved them to my pocket. We got to the yogurt area, and I picked up some low fat greek yogurt for me to have as breakfast. Mellie immediately tried to pitch one out of the cart, so I moved them to the seat she refused to sit in. She then decided it would be a good idea to try to slam the seat down while the yogurt was there. I decided Mellie needed to be carried.
Mellie, however, was not interested in being carried. She wanted to get down and wreak havoc. Finally, I put her down and Ronnie was watching while I picked out some chocoloate chips. While reviewing the prices, I heard a screaming child a couple of aisles down. I thought with relief, I'm so glad that is not my child this time. I finally made my selection and turned around to tell Ronnie something. No sign of him, or my child. Now, I hear the screaming child, and she sounds remarkably like Mellie, and I am praying that is my child. Trying to keep from freaking out, I pull my phone out to call Ronnie. I was way too shooken up to dial, however, and I started nearly sprinted down the aisle towards where I last heard the screams. I envisioned Mellie screaming because a stranger was trying to carry her off. Suddenly, Ronnie, carrying the pterodactyl, walks into the aisle I am sprinting down. I grab her and hug her tight, and then give Ronnie a word or two. He told me she ran off so he ran after her. I put her back in the cart and hid the yogurts and the eggs beneath the bread in the little shelf at the end.
In the cart, out of the cart. This continued for the entire trip. Other sample ladies told me I had a beautiful child. I told them how horribly behaved she is, and they told her to be good. We realized we forgot butter for the cookies and had to go back to the far end of the store. Mellie said hello to another child, younger than her, and I pointed out how the little one was sitting so nicely in the seat. Her parents told me not to jinx it.
A couple of minutes later, Mellie had convinced me to put her down. I was looking at something, and when I turned around Ronnie told me she was by the display of powdered donuts. Sure enough, she was putting a second bag of donuts into a perfect stranger's cart. I ran over, apologized profusely, and put the donuts back. I remember thinking "what great fodder for my blog - my child putting powdered donuts into the cart of an unsuspecting bystander."
She's lucky I love her soo very much.
