Target

Alan went down to southwest Missouri tonight to go to a funeral, so Teddy & I are on our own for the next 24 hours or so. I don't think we've had to sleep apart since Teddy was 2 & Alan took his students to Germany the last time, so it's kinda weird! Teddy isn't very demonstrative with his dad, but he told me tonight after a couple hours that he missed Dad. I think Teddy just assumes Alan is always there, watching out for him.

Teddy & I decided to go to Target since I needed to buy some stuff, so off we went around 7 PM. That should have been my first warning--don't try to do anything after 7!!! I know this, but I did it anyway since Teddy was very excited about going. But the reason he was excited is because they have 2 fountains at Target.

Or should I say, they had 2 fountains at Target. We got to the aisle where Teddy can see the outdoor furniture set up across the whole store, & at this point he usually runs off towards it like he's being pulled by a magnet. But he could tell immediately that something was different--they'd done something new.

Excuse my french, but what makes those bastards at Target think it's a good idea to start marketing school supplies on July 11th?!? Cause that's what they did--took all the outdoor entertainment stuff & shoved it in a corner & filled the space with lovely things like notebooks, pencils, & backpacks. Teddy was in a state.

"Where's the fountains?" he asks me.

"I don't know, honey. It looks like they may be gone."

"What!?! Where's the fountains?"

"I think they moved them, let's look around."

We walked up & down the 2 aisles that contain all the outdoor stuff & there are no fountains. Teddy began to get upset.

"I hate those Target people! I see one I'm gonna hurt them! I'm gonna kick them hard!"

"Teddy! That's not nice! Don't talk that way!" I respond. Very effective, right? Maybe I said such a lame thing because I wanted to kick the Target people too.

I got him to the check out & we ask the person at the register where the fountains might have been put.

"If you didn't see them out with the rest of the stuff, then they're gone."

Have you heard Teddy scream? He used to do it a lot when he was younger. He's decided recently that it expresses his feelings very well in certain situations. This was one of those situations.

He ran towards the door, still screaming, but luckily had enough control to stop before he got hit by a car out front. I clutched his arm as we walked to the car, Teddy telling me what he'd like to do to the "stupid Target people" the whole way. Once in the car he totally broke down, screaming & crying & kicking. We got home & he threw his shoes & ran to his room, throwing his clothes hamper & crying still. I found him sitting on the floor, dirty clothes all over the place, with a blanket from Aunt Lisa that he loves over his head, sobbing.

It took me about 45 minutes to get him calmed down, but I had to promise that he would never have to step foot in Target ever again. In reality it will be about 6 months, but you can be sure he'll be talking about those fountains when he does darken Target's door!