Costco Chaos

Near the top of my "must-have" list, when looking for a rental here in Boston, was "How close is it to Costco?" Of course, I didn't find a place with Costco right down the street like in Highland, but ours is only 4.7 miles away. (I know the distance because Gwendolyn told me. Gwendolyn Prudence Smith is our GPS - she talks us through many crazy roads.) Anyway, yesterday I made a trip there with the four little ones and had my two carts loaded. As I left the store the cart got stuck on something and I had to push VERY hard to get it past the obstacle. When I heard the scream I realized it had been stuck on Cooper's foot. His whole toenail on his big toe was ripped right off. I felt awful! But not as awful as he did. I left Tessa with the kids and ran inside for napkins to blot the blood (not just a little). Even as I ran back out the door I heard people shouting that someone was hurt, and employees were calling on their radios. Some kind stranger was helping Ivy to sit back down in the cart, and others had stopped to help Cooper. One man gave me his cold water to pour on the toe, and another brought more napkins. Even before the employees had brought out bandaids and such, people had offered to call the paramedics. I didn't dare tell them that I would be the one needing the paramedic if the bleeding didn't stop. An older "tough" man stopped - I say tough because he looked like a hardened vet, and knelt beside Cooper. He put his arm around him and kept saying "God bless you boy. God bless you boy. You'll be fine." He showed him how he had a bandaid on his finger from a pocketknife cut he had just gotten that morning. Of course Cooper thought that was cool. Anyway, we wrapped his toe in guaze and bandaids and carried him to the car. The manager came out to file a report - I told him not to worry about it. (He was afraid some other member had rolled over his toe. I said, "no, it was his own mother!") I assured him we wouldn't be suing Costco and he helped us to the car and unloaded the groceries. Well, the best part of the story is that Richard was home when we got home, so I gave him the assignment of checking it closely and cleaning and bandaging it. Cooper's a trooper!

Today we were planning on going to the beach with a bunch of moms and kids in the ward, so Cooper got his toe all wrapped up in plastic. Unfortuately, the battery on our car is dead!! We have a driveway that is only 12 inches wider than the car so there is no possible way that someone can jump start us, without us pushing the car to the street first. I can't push a Suburban, so here we are at home today. The kids were so disappointed (as was I!). They ate their sack lunches at the kitchen table dressed in swim suits. Poor things.