About once a week we venture to Trader Joe's for grocery shopping.
The sidewalk outside the store is divided into sections -- some with pebbles and some without. Ask any adult why and they will probably shrug and suggest it is for decorative purposes. But when you are five you know this divides it into safe and unsafe zones.
Some days the pebbles are hot lava. At other times they are quick sand or may harbor alligators. At any rate, they must be avoided at all costs!
UNLESS, of course, there is a sticker left stuck on the sidewalk by some kid before you. Trader Joe's gives out strips of stickers to kids and if somebody has dropped one, it becomes the Flip Button. Press the Flip Button with your toe and the pebbly part of the sidewalk becomes the safe zone while the smoother part is now a wobbly platform that might have dragons below it. Whew. I'm so glad I have Eli to keep me straight on all this. Without a guide, I might never make it back with the groceries!
Eli is also a fearless lobster hunter at Trader Joe's. There are four plush lobsters hiding around the store. If a kid finds one, they get a lollipop and then re-hide the lobster for the next kid. (Eli's favorite re-hiding spots are with the watermelons or the bottled water. " 'Cause lobsters like water, right, Mama?")
Some days the lobster expeditions are easier than others. Sometimes with a sigh I find myself doing a third sweep of the store: "Mama, I'll look low and you look high!"
Someday grocery trips will go a lot faster without lava, the Flip Button, lobsters, lollipops, and fluttering strips of stickers. But I'll really miss them.
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