All alone in the world...and loving every minute of it

On Saturday I was texting back and forth with a friend and in one of the messages I commented that I was at Walmart...ALONE (yes, that part was really all in caps). She texted back that it's sad when that is our idea of good time. God that IS sad. I loathe Walmart, I detest it with nearly every fiber of my being, but on that particular day it was my only option. Sadly enough that trip was pleasurable because I WAS ALONE.

Ask any mother and she'll probably tell you that grocery shopping sucks...unless she's ALONE. Tell her to run in and out of 5 different stores, the bank, and the post office all before lunch and naptime (oh, and it's raining) and she's likely to punch you in the babymaker...unless you tell her that she can do those things ALONE.

To walk the aisles of a store solo is akin to a few days relaxing on a beach. To NOT have to take the extra fruit snacks, chips, candy bars, toys, and dollar section crap out of ones cart is like being handed a fruity cocktail complete with umbrella and cherry (that you don't have to share!) To NOT have to placate children with enough snacks to feed an army while you wrestle a toddler back into the seat of the cart is similar to laying in a lounge chair reading a mindless smut novel.

My husband will never understand why I get giddy at the thought of an hour in Target alone. He will never understand why grocery shopping without three kids in tow will leave me grinning from ear to ear. He will never understand that just the IDEA of running errands without even ONE child is enough to relax me for the next few days (or hours...who are we kidding here). Likely because he has NEVER done it, nor will he ever. If he does take anyone, he takes the easy ones. He knows nothing of shopping with three children alone, therefore he could never even begin to comprehend why the grocery store on a Saturday WITHOUT KIDS ranks right up there with a trip to the spa.

Other mothers get it. Other mothers understand. Other mothers see each other pushing carts as slowly as humanly possible through the store with little smiles on their faces, and they get it. They get the sheer bliss of getting to do it alone. They get the joy that comes from being all alone in the world...and loving every minute of it, while it lasts anyway.