Shopping With My Little Bear

We made it to library story time just in the nick of time to grab the last spot. Now that school is out, story time at the library is a popular place to be. Grace spent most of it sprawled out on the floor and would perk up only when the librarian turned on the music for singing and dancing in between the stories.

Still, I continue to take her because it's a good place for her to learn some life lessons. Like what to do when a little boy gets all up in your personal space during a dance session and then karate kicks you without provocation. Grace's response to that incident was to get up in his face and then growl at him like an angry bear. She didn't lay a finger on him, but she sure did get her point across that she didn't find that behavior acceptable. I think that boy totally underestimated my girl. Sure, she is petite, wears a dress and has a big old bow in her hair, but Grace can totally take care of herself.

It's a good thing my little bear handled herself so well because seeing that boy- and I don't care if he's only 3 years old or not- do that to my baby girl definitely woke up the mean old mama bear in me. It's probably also a good thing papa bear wasn't around because heaven knows what would have happened if he was involved.

After the library, I got all serious about finding the perfect dress and headed to the outlets. Grace was slightly better on today's shopping trip, most likely due to my bribing her with the promise of an ice cream cone if she behaved herself. Any time I could sense the monkey making an appearance, all I had to say was 'ice cream' and my perfectly well behaved child came back- the term 'perfectly well behaved' being used very loosely.

I found THE dress at the second store. I don't know if the dress is perfect or not, but the sales lady definitely knew what she was doing. The moment she said, "Wow, that dress looks stunning on you," I was getting the dress whether it was on sale or not. Who can pass up 'stunning'? Now, I'm well aware that she says this exact same thing to every single lady she helps in hopes of making a sale, but whatever. Call me a sucker because that technique worked!

By the time we got home, Grace was an hour late for her nap, but thankfully she didn't give me a hard time and went straight to bed. I decided to join her, too. And when we both woke up, it was time for a Zumba class at the gym. A quick trip to Publix to grab Grace some dinner was next since my stove is still dead. We ended our evening with bath, stories, and snuggle time, and she was out for the night five minutes after I wished her sweet dreams.

Day 2 without Mike is done. Just a little bit more to go...