in a flash

i had a bad day tuesday. a bad day. there was that whole road rage incident and then nothing went my way. stupid stuff like i was clumsy and the computer system at work was acting up and i have to get my car fixed and micah is going through this "i'm not going to listen to you and i don't care what you try to do about it" phase.

so last night, i picked her up, got her a banana at T.Joe's and then we hit the mall. fun stuff, right?

she was actually pretty good. at the very end though, i *stupidly* agreed to let her walk next to the stroller. the mall was fairly empty. she ran ahead like 4-5 feet which in a dead mall, is okay by me. that's when it happened. i told her to go this way and she said no and RAN OFF!!

RAN.

Into Sears. Not down the open, empty aisle way, no. Into a huge store with full racks and more people and exists!! To the parking lot. Where there are cars. For the kidnappers to drive away in.

so, i ditched the stroller full of our coats, my purse, etc... and SPRINTED into Sears.

i turned left, i turned right. i heard a giggle. i turned left again. i ran the child down like a bull after a clown.

it probably only took me about 45 seconds to find her but - oh.my.god. - someone could've taken her.

so, i grabbed her and carried her like a football. which she hates because she can't hit/kick me and it's oh so uncomfortable for her. it's my "punishment" carry - it's how she knows she in t-rouble. ("cuz that starts with p and that rhymes with t and that stands for trouble")

the infamous skirt was taken away. she wasn't allowed to wear it to school today. and i went through this whole shpeal (after the you never run away from mommy speech) about how angry i was with her and how she hurt my feelings. this always works wonders with micah. our version of "time out" is that she has to go play by herself and not play with/touch/speak to mommy. it kills her.

anyway, i didn't yell. i'm very proud of myself.