more than grocery shopping

Greg called me at 12:47 p.m. and said, "Hey, darlin', what are you doin'?"

When I answered him, I got this blog post brewing in my mind. But, first, the answer:

"I'm grocery shopping. Well, I started grocery shopping, but right now I'm walking to the bathroom because Cate needs to go. And I'm making sure she doesn't hit me or anyone else with the small cart. You know, I'm buying groceries so Courtney and I can freezer cook, too. So I'm keeping our stuff and the cooking stuff separate. The little cart helps with that."

By the time Greg and I finished chatting, the kids and I were close to the bathroom.

Cate went in, and had to wait for a stall. I stood with the bathroom door open, so I could see Ben, who was happily "driving" in the car cart, and make sure Cate was OK in the bathroom, which only has two stalls but had three Kroger employees either using them or waiting their turn.

I kept turning my head back and forth. First to Ben and my purse. Check. Check. Then back to the bathroom. "Cate, are you OK?"

Of course, she gave me commentary.

"I pooped some. Almost done."

"I can't reach the white paper [That's what Cate calls toilet paper.]."

"Oh, there, got some."

As she came out of the stall and walked toward the sink, I interrupted her plan. "Hey, babe, I have some handitizer [That's Cate's made up word for hand sanitizer.] in my purse. Let's use that."

I was ready to move on from the bathroom.

And back to my two grocery lists and pile of coupons.

I pushed the car cart with my 1-year-old son through the aisles with my 3 1/2-year-old daughter following closely behind pushing her cart. All was well. We filled them both up.

But it all must have taken too long for Ben's taste because he was fast asleep by the time we got to the cheese section. He slept through the dairy section and baby aisle. He missed Cate and I unloading our carts and chatting with the cashier.

Ben woke up when the 40-degree air hit his face in the parking lot. But it was just in time for a diaper change -- apparently Cate wasn't the only one who had to go while grocery shopping -- in the floor of the van. He was happy to be reunited with his bed, where he's now fast asleep while I finish putting away all the many items from our grocery shopping trip.

So that's what I've been doing.