Mom? Mom? Mom?

It is difficult to believe that some of the things that happen today I may not remember someday.  I always think I will remember all (and i mean all) of the questions that stimson asks me.  (we're talking millions)  i enjoy the questions.  most of the time.  and by that i mean i really enjoy seeing how his brain works.  but sometimes i would just like to take one breath before there is another question.  just a breath.  and sometimes i wonder why he doesn't have to breathe as much as i do.  unfortunately stimson isn't able to multitask.  (either because of his age or his gender.  or maybe both.)  so whenever (constantly) he is asking a question, he stops whatever he is doing to ask a very "important" question.  of course that makes it quite difficult to actually leave the house and go anywhere because there are so many questions to answer that it is usually time to come back home before we even get out of the house.

we went on a short bike ride today and the questions were steady.  i had to write some of them down so i could remember twenty years from now what was buzzing in his head.  each and every time stimson asks a question, he says mom first.  even if i am two inches away. even if no one else is around.  even if it was just the two of us in a small room on a remote island in the middle of the ocean.  each one is always prefaced with "mom".  mom?  yes? mom? yes?  mom? mom? mom?

s: mom? yes?  what do you like better- a crow or a gopher?
s: mom?  can you break a piece of cotton?  even with a propeller?
s: mom?  why are birds scared of people?
s: mom?  isn't it sad to see a squished gopher?
      m: yes- and gross.
s: well i think it is just sad.  and why don't they wait until the cars stop to cross the road?
s: mom? what do you like better worms or birds?
     m: well, i think i like them both.
s: you can't like them both, birds eat worms so you can either like one or the other.
i like the logic of that one.  we just recently had some blood drawn and blood pressure taken (within view of stimson).  he had thousands of questions.  and it was hard to explain why and what was going on.  i was trying very hard but i was pretty sure my blood pressure was sky rocketing while i answered all the questions related to that.  (and the purpose of the exam was to prove how healthy we are so our life insurance rates are so low that they will pay us to insure us)  having a heart attack at that moment would not have been exactly beneficial.

and will i remember all the super fun grocery store visits?  i would be mortified if i found out that someone knew how many times we go to the grocery store each week.  but i have a good excuse: every single time we go i have a list and every time we go i get approximately 63% of the items on my list.  the rest of the time is spent trying to go potty with merritt, answering stimson's questions (hard to read a list at the same time), putting all of merritt's groceries back that she rips off the shelves (constantly), explaining to the cashier that i don't want all of the energy bars; they just happen to be in our cart, trying to go potty again, forgetting my wallet in the car, forgetting my list in the car, trying potty again, playing with the water fountain, getting three produce bags for three carrots, with a separate twisty tie for each of those carrots, trying potty again.  and finally going potty!!!  and or course while we are in there someone is next to us also going potty.  merritt hears their potty going and she cheers for them.  yay!!!  ok your turn merritt.  concentrate.  and for some reason every time merritt goes or tries to go potty we have to take almost all of her clothes off.  it is quite endearing (and by that i mean frustrating) to undress every time we "try" to go potty.  costco is the absolute worst.  we are always in the fruit section when she says potty!  potty! potty!  the fruit section is approximately two zip codes away from the bathroom.  then we finally get there and have to go through everything- cheering for everyone else in the bathroom, taking all her clothes off, then telling her not to touch anything but or course she touches everything, then washing hands and trying to run out of the room before she touches more things.  every grocery store trip takes twenty-three  times longer than if i were alone.  but i love it! and by that i mean some of the time.  however, on the rare occasion that i go to the store alone (as in by myself, with no one else in or out of the cart or car. as in never), it does feel like a vacation of sorts.

but not the kind of vacation that is memorable.  whereas most every other grocery store visit makes some kind of "special" memory (even if it isn't the kind of memory i want etched in my mind). in twenty years when i shop by myself all the time, i imagine i will miss making a memory every time i go to the grocery store.  it is hard to imagine that though.  at the very least i know i will look back at this and think how boring it is to go potty by myself.  or maybe i will still be cheering for the lady next to me.