Shopping trial

Harry can turn the simplest of tasks into a real trial. This was illustrated very clearly last Friday when I arrived home from work and had to pop to the shops to buy a few bits and pieces for tea. I decided to take Harry with me in his push-along trike.

The shop is only a few hundred yards from our front door, so this shouldn’t have presented any problems. My only slight worry was that Harry insisted on taking his bubble gun with him. Still, I thought, what damage can a few bubbles do?

Ten minutes later, I was stood in the middle of the shop with Harry shouting at the top of his voice in between dousing unsuspecting shoppers with bubbles. I was trying to steer Harry’s trike with one hand while carrying an overflowing shopping basket in the other and, presumably, looking increasingly fraught.

To be fair, I did get one or two sympathetic looks from shoppers; others were slightly less gracious in their attitude.

Anyway, I eventually managed to get to the counter and pay, much to the amusement of the checkout staff.

My relief was shortlived, though; two minutes later, I was heading back to the shop having realised I’d forgotten the most important items – Melissa’s chocolate and magazine.

In an effort to keep things under control second time around, I resorted to good old-fashioned bribery with Harry; he got a pack of chocolate buttons to keep him quiet – a very effective method of noise control, I’ve discovered.

Melissa, of course, also found the whole episode hilarious. In fact, she only stopped laughing long enough to tell me she has to manage this type of expedition every day. It makes going to work sound like the easy option.