Shut it.

There are days when you just want your kid to settle down and be quite. Today wasn't really one of those days but Ada found a way to "zip it" "shut your trap" and "put a sock in it" without me even asking her to.

We are at the local Dominick's waiting in line for some issue two carts ahead of us. It is taking way too long and Ada is being really patient playing with Gigi her giraffe. Finally, the issue is resolved and it's our turn to load our groceries onto the conveyor belt. Ada wants to be held and I want my two hands free to unload the cart. She's getting fussy so I hurry, and once I've made space, I put her in the main basket of the cart instead of the kiddie seat.

"Hold on to the edge. I'm going to move the cart up the line." I say, thinking that she can understand everything I'm saying or at the very least "hold on".

My mistake.

I advance the cart and she falls on her butt back into the basket. She's now even more fussy. I'm holding her and calming her down when the checkout woman says, "Do you want a sticker?" and gives Ada one of the "Thank You for shopping at Dominick's" fluorescent orange stickers that they put on the milk and liquor to show that you didn't steal it. She did the same thing for the little girl in front of us and that little girl was wearing it nicely on her dress. Not Ada. Nope. She put that sticker right smack dab over her mouth. And then she peeled it off. And then she put it back on...the whole way home.

I didn't hear a peep out of her until we got home and pulled up to unload the groceries. It was a miracle sticker. Entertained her. Keep her quiet. Was free. Didn't break or damage anything (yet anyway...I'm not exactly sure where the sticker is right now... maybe stuck to the seat of the car???)

I think I might just have to go back to Dominick's to get a few more of those stickers so I can keep them in my purse for "special occasions".

Moral of the story: Blessings come in small ways from the most unexpected places, including a simple sticker from Dominick's.