out

As my children finished their supper last night, I realized I had not left my premises all day. Sometimes I am fine with that, but last night I was feeling restless. Andy had just left for a photo-shoot (how many girls can say that about their husbands without batting an eyelash?), and I wasn't feeling particularly excited about handling the nighttime routine alone.

The solution? A trip to CVS. I packed the girls in the car to pollute two blocks of Mother Earth (it was raining and I don't have a rain-cover for the double stroller) to do some mindless wandering. They squealed with delight when they saw the shopping cart with the car-thingy on the front, and piled in as fast as they could.

I had nothing in particular to buy. I grabbed a box of animal crackers that the girls shared while I pushed them down the aisles. We said hello to fellow patrons, and I marveled (yet again) at how much stuff a drugstore sells. Like office furniture. I caught myself harmonizing (rather loudly) with Toni Braxton to "Unbreak My Heart" as we rounded the greeting card aisle. Where people were watching me.

As we headed down the toy aisle (where my children were gloriously silent), I spotted an Ernie (from Sesame Street) doll lying in a box surrounded by Cookie Monsters. THIS was the reason I came to CVS, I just didn't know it! For, you see, my one year old loves Ernie. Her father and I are mystified by this. Never have we once talked about Ernie. She's watched Sesame Street a handful of times, but usually it's just the Elmo's World segment. Yet, whenever she sees Ernie on her little Pampers she says his name like a broken record like her life depends on it.

I plucked him from the box and placed him in her little hands. Immediately she clutched him to her chest. He's been there ever since.