Trying my hand at shoplifting

Jack is sick. And now I am too. I was miserable last night. I was struggling to breathe and my throat was raw. The worst part is that I'm feeling what I know Jack is feeling . . . ugh. I hate that he feels this way!

My friend Joy is in town for a few days and I had no one to watch Jack so I thought it would be a good idea to take my sick infant out into the cold so we could all go shopping together! I'm so smart like that. Our first stop was downtown Jackson to visit Swan Creek Candle Company and a camera place to get an estimate on having my lens fixed. We at lunch at Mat's Cafe and went to Ann Arbor to do a little shopping. All afternoon, he kept shooting me looks that said, "Why?! Why would you do this to me?! It's cold, I'm sick and I just want to go home and sleep!"

Things didn't get any better when we got to Ann Arbor. I found something for Jack on clearance at Old Navy and hung it on the stroller as I continued my shopping. I didn't find anything else that I wanted to buy and forgot it was hanging there . . . and well, you can probably guess how the rest of the story goes. Two stores later it was still hanging on the stroller, but I never paid for it. I asked Joy to watch Jack and headed straight back to Old Navy. As I was walking away I could hear Joy telling Jack about what it might be like to have a convicted felon for a mother.

The worst part of the day was the drive back to Jackson. He screamed. It was a hoarse, painful scream. I was practically in tears as I was driving because there was nothing I could do.

Thankfully, the day turned around when we got back to Jackson and we met friends for a surprise dinner for Joy's birthday. Jack was so sweet and his mood did a completely 180. He didn't fuss and sat pretty quietly until we were done eating and could play with him. As we were talking after dinner, he fell asleep in my arms and slept the whole way home.

He's an amazing kid. I'm so lucky to be his mom.