Busy Hands

After picking up Jory from daycare, we went and bought everything we needed for the big meal from two stores. We even got our sparkling apple cider so we can toast the New Year in. Usually this has been mostly miss because either we’re not altogether as a family or people have fallen asleep. An acquaintance says her family celebrates at 9PM with the east coast people that way she’s assured everyone is still up. I think that will be our new tradition. Then if people are up at midnight, we can have another toast and if not that’s okay.

But I digress, we get everything home and I’m unpacking the groceries when I hear.

“Oma, look we got some lotion,” Jory informed his Oma.

My ears perked up and immediately called him to me.

“Jory, what do you have?” I inquired.

He showed me the little squeezable bottle of suntan lotion. The same bottle we saw at the check out counter that he wanted to buy, but I told him we didn’t need because we already had some at home.

“Didn’t I tell you to put that back?”

His now famous blank stare was given to me.

“Did you pay for this?”

Blank stare.

I had no idea where the receipt was so either the cashier rang it up and gave it back to Jory or he just put it in his pocket instead of putting it back in the display jar like I told him to.

“Give it to me. We are going to return this to the store and you are going to apologize for taking it. And you’re also going to write sentences. Haven’t I told you that we don’t touch things in stores? We don’t touch things that don’t belong to us?”

He nodded. “I’m sorry. I won’t touch anything again.”

So he wrote, “I will not touch things,” twenty times. And the very next day with the suntan lotion in hand, we found the manager of Ralph’s. He handed her the bottle and apologized for taking it. She thanked him for returning it and told him she forgave him.

Those little hands can be very busy while you’re trying to double check your Turkey list making sure you’ve gotten everything you need.