The things you think in those 30 seconds.

Despite all the pretty pictures and light chatter of my previous post, all was not sunshine and roses during our apple picking adventure. Of course I mentioned the difficult morning I had motivating everyone to get out of the house; I also mentioned the peeing in the apple orchard incident; but those were really not anything as dramatic and heart stopping as what happened about 2 hours into our day.

Greg had gone off to make a conference call, leaving me with the two girls, diaper bag, and heavy wheelbarrow-like cart full of flowers and pumpkins. We paid for our stuff and I walked out of the market. Juliette was walking next to me and Cosette was perched precariously on the biggest pumpkin. She was cranky because I wasn't letting her walk, too, but I didn't have enough hands to hold two girls and push a cart at the same time. When it looked like she might crush our $20 a pot mums, I paused to readjust. I picked her up and shifted her over. And then I realized that Juliette was no longer standing next to me. I look behind me; nope, not there. I am beginning to panic as I realize that Juliette is no where in sight. Then, moving as quickly as I can but feeling like everything is in slow motion, I drop the cart, scoop up Cosette, and start running, calling for Juliette. The thought that was in my head was "But I only looked away for a second" as I recall that Michelle Pfeiffer movie that I saw years ago where she gets distracted for a minute in a hotel lobby and someone kidnaps her son. Deep deep in the back of my mind is the thought that it is really weird to recall a movie that I didn't like and I don't even think I saw in its entirety. But at the forefront is the panic: How far could Juliette have gotten in mere seconds?

Pretty far it turns out. Before I can scream "WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER" I see her running back to me from all the way across the crowded and busy parking lot. I am relieved to see her, and also worried about all the traffic, and I shout "Juliette STAY THERE." I run over to her, grab her hand, and yell at her never to run away from me again, and never ever to run through a parking lot without a grown up. To which she responds, "Can we get some popocorn now?"

In hindsight I realized that she was looking for her dad. She wanted the popcorn, he is the man with the money, and she was running back from the direction of the truck.

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Later that night as we are sitting in her darkened room I bring it up again. This is how our conversation went:

"Juliette, you really scared me today when you ran away from me at the apple store. You shouldn't do that. You have to stay next to mommy and hold mommy's hand when we are shopping or are near cars."

Juliette is silent.

"Because I love you and I don't want you to get hurt or lost. So you make sure from now on that you stay with mommy or daddy, OK?"

Juliette: "My ears aren't listening mommy. I don't hear you."

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My wise guy daughter. I made her hear me-

"Oh well, that is too bad. I guess we can't go out anymore. If you can't stay with me and listen to me then we have to stay home all the time. Do you hear that?"

Juliette, remembering how we were just making plans to go shoe shopping and to the carwash- two activities she finds extremely enjoyable- perks up and says "Oh. Ok mommy. I hear you ."

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Final thought: She may be a tomboy, but she does love her shoes. That's my girl.