A Christmas Project
This year, Andrew and I have decided to do something different for Christmas—we’re giving our friends and Andrew’s co-workers homemade Christmas presents. Because undertaking a logistically complex and incredibly time-consuming baking project is exactly what one should do when one has an infant! Nonetheless, this weekend we braved the relentless cold and rain (I thought we lived in California!) and set out to make our preparations.
First stop: one of Roseville’s countless big box stores, an employee-owned grocery store chain with dirt-cheap prices and a fabulous bulk food section. The prices are akin to Pechin’s, for those of you from southwestern PA. The new Pechin’s, not the old (no dirt floors here, though there were buckets out to catch leaks from the ceiling). It’s a mammoth store, always chaotic, but we put Lucia in the sling and she slept peacefully the entire time. What I love about the sling, besides having two free hands, is that no one can actually see the baby. They can see that I have a baby, but they can’t see her precious little face or her pure, clean, flu-free hands. This is good, because it means I haven’t yet had to use my Mama Bear voice to say, PLEASE DON’T TOUCH THE BABY. I’ve been practicing this phrase; it’s delivered in a firm, clear voice, a pitch or two louder than it has to be, with just a hint of an unidentifiable accent to make it intimidating. I’m kind of waiting for an opportunity to use it, hopefully in Andrew’s presence for maximum amusement.
A note on this store. It was chaotic, yes, and at one point I made a comment to Andrew about being overwhelmed by the crush of humanity. When I said this, we were pushing an enormous shopping cart down an almost empty aisle as wide as my apartment in Brooklyn. We have gotten wimpy, wimpy, wimpy when it comes to crowds. We’ve been Rosevillified.
Anyway, our next stop was Target. Again, the sling made shopping so easy. And then—it was time to actually start baking. For a while, Lucia sat quietly in her little infant seat, dozing or watching the goings-on. When she started fussing, Andrew put her in the Baby Bjorn, and she went right to sleep. It’s like not even having a baby!
First stop: one of Roseville’s countless big box stores, an employee-owned grocery store chain with dirt-cheap prices and a fabulous bulk food section. The prices are akin to Pechin’s, for those of you from southwestern PA. The new Pechin’s, not the old (no dirt floors here, though there were buckets out to catch leaks from the ceiling). It’s a mammoth store, always chaotic, but we put Lucia in the sling and she slept peacefully the entire time. What I love about the sling, besides having two free hands, is that no one can actually see the baby. They can see that I have a baby, but they can’t see her precious little face or her pure, clean, flu-free hands. This is good, because it means I haven’t yet had to use my Mama Bear voice to say, PLEASE DON’T TOUCH THE BABY. I’ve been practicing this phrase; it’s delivered in a firm, clear voice, a pitch or two louder than it has to be, with just a hint of an unidentifiable accent to make it intimidating. I’m kind of waiting for an opportunity to use it, hopefully in Andrew’s presence for maximum amusement.
A note on this store. It was chaotic, yes, and at one point I made a comment to Andrew about being overwhelmed by the crush of humanity. When I said this, we were pushing an enormous shopping cart down an almost empty aisle as wide as my apartment in Brooklyn. We have gotten wimpy, wimpy, wimpy when it comes to crowds. We’ve been Rosevillified.
Anyway, our next stop was Target. Again, the sling made shopping so easy. And then—it was time to actually start baking. For a while, Lucia sat quietly in her little infant seat, dozing or watching the goings-on. When she started fussing, Andrew put her in the Baby Bjorn, and she went right to sleep. It’s like not even having a baby!
Comments
"Rosevillified" :)