So much for productivity

I woke up this morning wanting to accomplish so much, but sometimes whatever cosmic force you might believe in has it out for you.

After finally getting both J and hubby motivated and out the door, which is a small feat in and of itself, we headed to the produce store to get, well... produce, of course. J pitched a fit right in the middle of the shop, which I'd like to say is completely uncharacteristic of him, but lately it seems to be his normal routine. Quite frustrating. He's always been a fun and agreeable shopping partner, but lately, he's been ridiculously difficult. After assuaging whatever it was that had him all askew, we had a good time picking out all sorts of yummy stuff-- some plantains, an acorn squash, some apples, giant tomatoes, snap peas, a watermelon. Yum!

When we got in the car to leave, the damn thing wouldn't start. Now, we just spent $500 less than a month ago to correct this very problem, but apparently, my car's got just as much attitude as my kid. Some helpful kids who work at the store came to the rescue and were able to get it jump started. We drove it directly to the auto parts store where they diagnose it with a dead battery. It makes sense, driving it with a faulty starter for so long just put an early end to the battery.

The good news to all of this is that the battery was still under warranty, so we only had to pay half price for the new one.

Wil borrowed some tools and installed it while J and I sat in the shade on the sidewalk and shared an iced tea and swatted the gnats. Believe me, I was more than grateful for the simple fix, but what a crappy time of year to be stuck in the heat with a broken car and a whiny kid.

After the battery was installed, we brought the veggies home, and then went to get something to eat because the last thing I felt like doing was facing the mountain of dishes in the sink so that I could make more by cooking dinner.

Dinner sucked out loud. The food wasn't terrible, but the service was awful, it was crowded, their a/c was just barely blowing, and J, again, was being a booger. Seriously, I've never had to deal with this sort of phase before with him, and I'm somewhat at a loss for a solution. Do I drag his whiny butt out of every place? Or does that simply give him his way?

Sometimes just when I think I've got the parenting thing all figured out, he throws me a curve ball. I just wish I knew what was spawning this particular brand of behavior.

*sigh*

And I still need to go to the grocery.