Another busy Maggie & Mama day

[celticdragonfly]

So I was going to go out and run one errand today. Then I'd be back home working on more present making.

Then we had the idea of me taking Maggie along for the errand. And oh, there was this other errand I should do. And maybe we'd have lunch. And maybe one other stop.

This trip ate the whole day. We had a good time. We went to Hobby Lobby, and got the stuff we needed there. We got into Jackie Leaf's line so we could say hi to her. Maggie was quite good, and helped carry the basket. Then we went off and had lunch at chickfila. I pointed out a couple of uniformed policemen to her - I'm trying to teach her the lesson about that's someone you can go to for help if ever you're lost or in trouble, but don't go in anybody else's car if you don't know them. I told her the story about bkseiver and the policeman, and the newspaper article that resulted. (Hey, Mom? You oughta scan that in and post it. And do you have that song anywhere? I need to start teaching her the songs.)

Then we went to the bookstore, the B&N at the shopping center off University Dr. They had open carriages pulled by a pair of horses giving rides around the parking lots. 3 sets. Maggie wanted to, and I was telling her no, it would cost money and we couldn't afford it - but it turned out to be FREE. So we did our shopping, then took the bag back to the car and got my wool cape (thanks again, Mom, I love that cape) and stood in line. We got to ride in a white open carriage pulled by two chestnuts with white socks and blazes. We rode with another lady who had two boys, one several years older than Maggie and one a bit younger. Maggie enjoyed it. We wrapped her up in their blanket, enjoyed the clop-clop of the horses, and had fun looking at all the decorations.

Then I tried to go find a present for Jamie - that didn't work out. Toys R Us was a disaster, and when I gleefully remembered the nice little toy boutique off Camp Bowie instead, and got there, found out they'd closed at 5:30. It was 5:45. Who closes at 5:30 the Saturday before Xmas? Oh well.

Anyway, I could have done all these errands more efficiently by myself, but Maggie and I got nice together time, and Jamie got to have some time with Daddy when he wasn't having to fight Maggie for attention. So it worked out well.

I *still* have to do the rest of the present making and tagging for stuff being given to people tomorrow. And I need to practice some choir music. I was playing it on the piano, and realized that although I'm no pianist, I'm better at casually playing melody than I give myself credit for. I really want to learn to play piano well at some point, and I want to get back to my harp music. I was realizing today that when I do get time to work on my fiber arts or on music, it makes me a lot happier and I think about the time I spend doing it a lot and feel better.

Comments

[carbonelle.livejournal.com]

While the lesson (policemen are helpful people) is a good one, I have one concern and a suggestion.

The concern: Security guards look a lot like uniformed policmen, but are a somewhat chancy resource for a little lost girl to avail herself of. It is a job of choice for ex-cons, after all, and the companies that hire the guards and rent them out are notorious for their poor reference-checking.

The suggestion: From Gavin de Becker's book The Gift of Fear: "If you're ever lost, go find a nice mommy and ask her for help". The odds that a woman your daughter picks out herself is one of the tiny handful of dangerous women is very, very small. Moreover, as un-P.C. as it is to say this, women are wired for "protect the small child" and are less likely to drop Maggie off with Security and more likely to stay with her until her parents are found.

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

I had been concerned about that. I will remember that advice. We have that book, but haven't gotten through it yet.

[patgund.livejournal.com]

Whee, busy day