Maxxinista Meltdown

We've all been there. We've all been "that mom" in a public place where one of those famous epic meltdowns takes place. A few days ago, that was me and it happened at one of my all-time favorite places to escape. A place where no meltdown should ever happen, because it is the ultimate mom escape. You guessed it...TJ Maxx. What started out as fun one-on-one time for me and my little girl, suddenly spiraled into us at the front of the store, Everly having a fit and me taking on the role of "that mom" while trying to remain 100% calm as I felt the watchful eyes of my fellow maxxinistas.

Let me just start by saying DAMN YOU TOY SECTION. I feel like I've gotten pretty good at finding alternative routes around stores in order to avoid the toys. However in this instance, Everly's favorite section, the dress section, happens to be located right across from the dreaded toy section. There we stood, looking through the dresses, picking out a sparkly unicorn dress that seemed to meet Everly's standards of twirliness. We start to walk away and within seconds she feasts her eyes on a bright red toy cash register and is convinced that she has to have it.

When my kids have these freak out moments in public, I always have this sense of calm that comes over me. Honestly, what is freaking out with them going to get me? Nothing short of an even worse meltdown and my feeling mom guilt later. In my calm tone of voice, I start trying to reason with Everly who at this point has her new dress and a makeup pallet in our cart. She is not having it. I proceed to tell her (all the while she is screaming) that we cannot act that way in a store and will have to leave our items behind and head for home. Wrong answer. She proceeded to cry louder, tell me she doesn't like me and grip the cart, from which she is too heavy for me to forcefully lift out and carry to my car.

I felt like hours passed while I continued to reason with her, only because of my inability to physically force her out of the cart. She wasn't buying into any of my reasoning as to why she couldn't take that bright red cash register home. Even the fact that she already has a Minnie Mouse cash register as well as the Little Tykes Grocery Store at home wasn't enough. In her four year old mind, she didn't have THAT cash register.

Sometimes it is so incredibly hard as a parent to explain situations such as these in a way that the four year old brain will comprehend and agree with. You can explain it until you are out of breath or blue in the face, but sometimes those emotions just get the best of them. I asked Everly if we could step outside, get some fresh air and perhaps we could walk back in to the store and start over. She wasn't having that either. She was determined to take that register home. Finally she started to tire out. I managed to coax her out of the cart. Honestly, I don't even remember what I said, but she did let me pack her out of the store. We left our goodies behind and she cried her little eyes out the entire walk across the parking lot. She even tried her very best to stop crying so she could go back in and get her dress. That broke my heart a little bit, but this momma had to remain strong.

There is a moral lesson to this story. All the while I was standing there reasoning with a wailing four year old, there were several mothers who walked by and complimented me for keeping it together. One even patted me on the back and said "you've got this momma." Random strangers were taking notice and complimenting me, because they too had been "that mom" at one time or another. Sometimes things happen that restore your faith in humanity. Like many of the fellow moms I encounter on social media, there they were; right there in T.J. Maxx swooping in and cheering me on when I expected judgement.

So for this experience, I will always be thankful and best believe that I will return the favor the next time I see "that mom" trying her best to keep it together. We've got this mommas and we truly are in this together. #momlife is the best life!