It takes a village - some just have their own

JT and I went shopping on Friday night. He’s getting to the point where sitting in the cart isn’t an option. He’s got to be up, down, pushing, and helping. With all the “help” he gives I don’t think I can shop on my own any longer. I get anxiety just thinking about trying to shop and watch him and not have him throw tantrums. This trip we sped through pretty well and he pushed the cart the last five minutes. It was filled with 3 12 packs and a huge jug of water and still he was moving that cart like it was filled with marshmallows. We found a semi-empty lane and a nice lady’s heels to run our cart into. I stopped the cart with mere inches to spare. She wasn’t swayed by his beauty like the rest of H-E-B; one gentleman sample giver commented, “she sure is strong!” as JT pushed the cart past him. It’s those darn curls! He pitched a fit when he couldn’t keep the cart moving and I was busy wrestling him in my arms when an older black woman came behind me with two carts. Please be good, please be good… She wasn’t in line behind us for more than 12 seconds when she practically ran up to us and commented on how beautiful JT is. And he didn’t waste any time before climbing into her arms. “Oh, I just love friendly babies! He’s gorgeous! Is he your only one?” yes. “Girl, you need to have another, he’s just to beautiful.” Oh no! Thank you for the compliment but no, just one is fine with us. She proceeded to tell me that she has 14 children and I about hit the floor. Considering where I work, my first thought was by how many different men? That was bad of me, I know, and she cleared that up by saying, “And by the grace of God I’ve been married to the same man for 38 years. We have 31 grandkids, well, 29…one little girl died at 4 months and my other daughter’s baby was stillborn. But I sure do love me some babies.” The entire time JT was laying kisses on her face, hugging her, playing with her earrings, more kisses, more smiles, just happy as a clam. At this point my groceries were bagged and headed towards the door and the checker was waiting for Gram behind me to release my kid and get her cart emptied onto the conveyor belt. I finally managed to convince JT that I was still cool and to come back with me. She gave him another hug and kiss and said to JT, “I sure do wish you lived by me” and he answered, “Okay, okay, okay!” It’s nice when the village is friendly like that…