White cheddar popcorn and a glass elevator saved the day. How, you ask?

It's my sister's birthday today and she had some money my mom gave her and some she's been saving and really wanted to go buy herself some new clothes, which I don't think she's done since she had the baby 18 months ago. Everyone else in the family who had said they would go shopping with her backed out and she called me last night feeling all sad and could I maybe take some time off work this afternoon and go shopping with her, because it's hard to clothes shop with an 18 month baby, plus more fun to go with someone else. Needless to say, I obliged.

Brodie was good as gold for the first little while, being all cute and adorable and flirting with the shop girls in all the stores. But after about half an hour he started to get tired and ready for a nap, and consequently, Aunti Jo just wasn't doing it for him. He wanted mama all the time. She was in the changing room and he just started wailing. Like his little heart was breaking. I finally had to take him in to her, but every time she tried to put him down to try something on, he'd start again.

Thank god for white cheddar popcorn, which is one of his favorite treats of all time. We bought him a little bag and pluncked it in front of him in his stroller. Not a peep for about half an hour. He didn't even care where the hell mama was. But when the popcorn was done .........

BWWAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I finally just took him out of the store as he wailed, leaving my sister to try on clothes in peace while we strolled the mall. With the screaming baby. Until I spied the saviour of all time up ahead. The glass elevator. We rode up and down 4 floors of mall for about 20 minutes, with Brodie shreaking in glee this time and chattering away to anyone else who got in.

That managed to keep him content until mama had gotten herself some fine new threads.

I love my nephew more than anything in the world and he's damned cute and usually a pretty good little boy, but times like this make me a little glad I don't have one of my own, know what I mean?