"Be Prepared"

It's the Boy Scout motto. And the twin mom's, too.

Concluding a successful grocery shopping trip, Em and Roo were both gifted with balloons by an employee at the checkout aisle.
Happiness, thy name is Helium Filled Balloon.

It was all going great until I loaded Roo and balloon into the car seat. Em was still in the grocery cart, with the groceries and her balloon. I was multitasking like a maniac.

I had a foot hooked around the base of the cart, my booty holding the car door open, my head keeping Roo's balloon in the car and everything else was wrestling a toddler into seatbelt straps. Then, Em started W-A-I-L-I-N-G.

She was fine. The balloon was gone. Inconsolable is the only appropriate description.

I got Em into her car seat. She promptly grabbed Roo's balloon and staked claim.

Not cool.

Roo is now inconsolable. Plus, I've tied the balloon to Roo's car seat straps to keep it out of my way while driving, so Em can't really hold onto it like she wants. Make that two screaming kids now.

I popped open my trusty pink Swiss Army knife that is always on my key chain and cut it loose from Roo's seat.


But, the elephant was still in the room, so to speak. Wailing continued.

So I did it.

Yep. I popped the balloon.

OhnotheballoonisgoneNOW...let's turn on the dvd player in the car!
And I'll unload the groceries from the cart (if they're even still there by this time), put the cart up, get back in the car, drive us home, take you in the house, unload the groceries and pass out.

A sad little tear sliding down Em's cheek