Sephira's newest favorite thing...

is taking walks to the grocery store behind our house. Weird... I know. She puts her baby doll in the doll stroller and pushes it all the way to the store (a sizable distance when you're 2) where she then gets into the "car" shopping cart. She buckles herself and her baby in and I push... around and around the store. Up and down the aisles. I only feel a little awkward pushing an empty cart around a grocery store. Especially as my daughter alternates between "beep-beeping", shouting out hello, and singing at the top of her lungs to everyone we pass. Maybe she just likes the attention? These trips are turning into a daily thing and I'm starting to get to know familiar faces. I've also noticed the patterns of shoppers on certain days. Moms on Mondays and Wednesdays. Guys in the evening... especially midweek. Elderly on Thursdays. I wonder if this is intentional. If somehow these populations manage to consort on this.

It's a bit therapeutic though. I've always found grocery shopping relaxing (except when baby is having a nervous breakdown). The tidy rows of items stacked and categorized restore my mind to sanity. It's like my little oasis of order in a world full of chaos.

The advantages to this:

1. exercise in an air conditioned environment
2. don't have to pay a gym membership
3. don't have to pay a sitter
4. it's a social and fun experience for s
5. if I get thirsty, I just have to migrate to the water aisle

The only problem is that it's a LOT of walking for S. I just can't seem to find a way around it. She so looks forward to it and I can't find a good reason to help her understand why she shouldn't walk... she LOVES pushing her baby stroller. But the more she walks during the day, the less she sleeps at night. :(