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My baby girl tricked me

Today I lived two new experiences:
  • I experienced the fact that sometimes my 11-month-old daughter is smarter than me.
  • I experienced the humility of a parent whose kid caused chaos in a public place.
Willow and I went to Kroger early this morning, around 8:30 a.m., to do our grocery shopping. We make big and small trips to Kroger, the big ones are to restock our refrigerator and pantry, the smaller ones are to get milk and bread when we run out.
I much prefer the small trips. I hate the big trips (because I'm quite pathetic at keeping track of Willow, the coupons, Willow's toys, the old people, the sales and the shopping list). I always screw up on the big trips by forgetting to get a staple food, missing a coupon or sale or rudely running over an old person. Quite rude, that. Also, I take an extremely long time trying to keep up with everything, much longer than it would take you to shop at Kroger, I guarantee you.
Today was a big trip. Actually, it was the biggest one I've been on yet. Lots of sales. Lots of coupons. Thankfully, few old people stepped in our way to pinch Willow's cheeks. Actually, at 8:30 a.m. the store was nearly empty.
The last time I ventured to Kroger on a big trip, I encountered a problem with Willow's ability to reach back behind her and grab the coupons and coupon case (she likes to pull the coupons out and crumple them or chew on them). Soon I was wise to her and moved my couponing to the front end of the cart, away from her. Yes, I was laying out coupons on the frozen foods boxes.
I did the same on this trip, and Willow played happily on the other end of the cart with her Doggie and Froggie. She also hammed it up for anyone within 5 miles of the cart.
But soon I realized she had a plan, a diabolical plan of patience. She was biding her time as I filled the cart to brimming.
Then SNATCH!!! She reached back, grabbed the coupon case, turned it topsy-turvey and dumped all the coupons out onto the floor in Aisle 9. Every. Single. Coupon. Hundreds of them. On the floor in the frozen foods aisle.
Like a good little puppy, er, parent, I sank to the floor and picked up all the coupons. As they were, I couldn't stuff them back into the coupon case with any efficiency, so I stuffed them in her diaper bag. Lucky for me, nobody else was in the aisle, so I wasn't hurried.
Now a pile of them rests on the dining room table, awaiting me to find the time to reorganize them.
Cherish is very particular about the order of her coupons, and I have no hope of getting them in the right order, but she'll have to forgive me.
I was duped by an 11-month-old.

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