It’s 4pm and Miss M and I are shopping for some new tights for her before we pick up Miss E from I.T. Club.  My little angel is in the kind of mood that makes me really wish I’d brought the pushchair with me so I can strap her in, tight, in a ‘no escape you little fiend’ kind of way.

Everything I have asked her to do she has ignored and I have found myself falling into that annoying place where, like Baby Annabelle, I am stuck repeating a small cluster of phrases over which I have no control.  I am at the mercy of a small child pressing a button, and she just keeps on pressing.

“Put that down please M.”

“No, put it down.”

“Stay near Mummy.”

“Don’t touch.”

“No.”

“Do not climb on the display.”
 
“If you do that one more time it will be a warning.”

“Ok.  First warning.”

“5, 4, 3, 2, 1, second warning.”

“5, 4, 3, 2, 1, third warning, that’s it, no TV.”

“Arghhhhhhhhhhhh.”

We approach the counter and I fumble for my purse while Miss M dances lightly around the barrier, then ducks underneath it taking with her a rack full of Barbie Mittens and Roary the Racing Car belts.

Me:  ”M, come here and help me pick these up please.”

I turn to the assistant, apologising while she attempts to hide a smile as my ‘adorable’ little girl crouches down and loads her skirt with her fallen spoils.  Between slotting my card into the machine and typing in my pin I manage to restock the shelves and pull Miss M close with a few words of warning.

And what does Miss M do?
 
She lifts her head.  Her eyes are wide and shine with the possibility of tears.  Her lips are slightly parted and dip down at the edges, echoing the lines of her shoulders, slumped and rounded.  She looks like a tiny bird cornered by a hungry cat, and her eyes flit between me and the cashier as she says;

Miss M:  ”Mummy, can my still have some dinner?”

Really?  Hee hee.

And calling all recyclers and environmentally friendly people, and by that I mean you lot.  I’m hosting a Carnival Of Trash for inspiring  Almost Mrs Average and would love you all to submit one of your ‘Green’ posts.

As Mrs A says; “Submissions should be examples and inspirational stories about how you or anyone you know is helping to eliminate landfill waste. Items can be anecdotal accounts or examples of good practice of how frustrations are dealt with. Please feel free to share news about fabulous products, people and organisations that promote recycling. Examples of poetry, photos of trash or trash as an artform are also welcome.”

The Carnival of Trash can be hosted by anyone interested in the subject of rubbish and the great thing is your blog doesn’t need to be entirely focused on trash in order to host it. The only requirement is that you have already contributed a post about the subject.

The carnival will be published on November 13th, so I need any submissions in by November 10th.  If you are interested in featuring an article\post from your blog or website, please go to here.