Today I went to the grocery store with both kids for the first time.

Let's begin with the fact that I was starting out in a bad mood. Not only did I get less than enough sleep the night before, but I had also just received a call from the cleaning service (yes I use a cleaning service - please do not judge) telling me that they, once again, would have to reschedule because they didn't think they could make it up my driveway. (I might have had an over reaction to this one, but honestly, it wasn't so bad out today. I made it up my driveway, which doesn't always happen. And we're in New Hampshire - when are we going to reschedule TO? March? Sometimes when there's no snow? What do these people want from me?)

Anyway, at the grocery store I found one of those carts with the cars in front. Nicholas loved it - he hopped right in and started streering. The probelm was what to do with NATHAN. When Nick was in his car seat I used to just pop it in the front basket. It fit right in there. But this new grocery store has new baskets that DO NOT FIT THE CARRIER. When the carrier finally clicked into place Nate's feet were six inches above his head. I mean, he was almost upside down. But the carrier was too wobbly if it wasn't snapped in. So we ended up putting the whole carrier in the basket, leaving about a square foot of space for actual groceries.

At this point my mother was trying to convince me to get two carts. I ignored her because this was supposed to be a test run, and getting two carts wouldn't be a possibility the next time.

Everyone was very good while we shopped. Nate slept the whole time. Nicholas sat happily in the car until we reached the very last aisle and he climbed out while we were checking out. My mother refrained, for the most part, from impulse shopping, and only had to go back for a couple of items. She trailed behind us, but only by half an aisle's length. But her knee was really bothering her - she was limping the whole was, which kept us at a slow pace. My mother was also the one who put the ginger snaps in the cart, while I concentrated on frozen foods and milk.

Still, by the time we got home, I was a wreck. Instead of a trip to the store you would have thought I tried taking us all on a flight connecting through Heathrow. And it didn't end there.

Nate stayed asleep, but Nicholas started running all over as soon as we got home. I was trying to put the groceries away while my mother began making a roast for dinner. (FYI - it was 11AM.) My mother also fought me each time I tried to throw anything IN the fridge away. The burger meat I put in the freezer a month ago? She yelled at me for trying to pitch it. Same goes for the eggs whith a date of last week. FYI - she's still drinking from a bottle of skim milk dated January 13th.

I tried to make room in the snack cabinets by eating 6 cookies and throwing away the box. I also realized that we now have more food in the freezer than in the refrigerator - including 3 bags of chicken nuggets and many boxes of frozen peas.

My mother is going home tomorrow. I am not sure about how things will go. I will miss her cooking and doing the dishes, not to mention her being able to hold the baby while I do one thing or another. But I guess it is time. This way she can get medical treatment for her knee, and I can get back to cooking familiar meals and emptying out my freezer.