Love, shopping, and other experiences with Sam

Last Sunday, I took Sam with me to the grocery store. He LOVES to come to the store with me, but I find it to be a rather exhausting experience. Not because he misbehaves or wanders off. On the contrary, he stays right with me and rarely asks me to buy certain items. It's exhausting because he TALKS THE ENTIRE TIME. And he's not just talking about typical five-year-old things. He's asking deep questions and he keeps making me think. My brain is worn out by the time I'm done shopping.

And I had the brilliant idea to take the Cruze through the car wash before we went to the store. This meant Sam had even more time to sit, think, ponder, and expect me to have answers to everything he came up with. He's a little apprehensive of car washes, but got through this experience by having me show him where all the cords and hoses were hooked up in the car wash. If you've never looked at the ceiling in a car wash, do it some time. I've never studied it much before and it's rather interesting. At any rate, after the car wash, we went to Meijer. We started out at the produce/bakery section. Meijer gives kids a free cookie if you request one at the bakery, so we headed right over there. An employee saw Sam coming and brought him a large heart-shaped cookie covered in red sprinkles. Sam was so thrilled he was speechless. I am sure the look on his face was thanks enough, but I still wanted Sam to remember his manners. So, I quietly said, "Sam, what do you say?" Sam held the cookie up at the girl, gave her a huge smile, and said, "This is a Valentine's cookie. And I love you!"

His mother managed not to humiliate him by quickly stepping away before she burst out laughing.

Toward the end of our shopping trip, we were near the toy department. It suddenly occurred to Sam that when Meijer gets the spring items back out (some of them are already making an appearance!), that sunglasses will be out as well. He remembered the display of children's sunglasses that they had near the toy department. I bought him a pair just last summer. But that wasn't good enough for Sam. He turned on the drama. "Mom, you NEVER buy me sunglasses. And I would really like a pair."

I reminded him that wasn't true and that I had just bought him a nice pair last summer. Sam didn't even pause. He responded with "Yes, but I have giant noggin and I probably need a new pair."

Again, more laughter. He got that term from me. I love to tease him about his big head, which he gets from my side of the family. He's very proud to have a 'giant noggin'. I always tell him, the bigger the head, the more brains you have. And yes, if his sunglasses don't fit his giant noggin, I will certainly get him a bigger pair. But I'm pretty sure he can get at least two summers out of his old, unworthy sunglasses.