To Market, To Market, To Buy A Fat Goldfish

So, Saturday was a learning experience.

Max and I headed out to the Leesburg Farmer's Market this morning. Leesburg is my favorite NOVA town -- mostly because it's close and I know my way around. But also because the downtown area is really cute, it's got great restaurants, and it's the gateway to much of NOVA wine country - which I also love.

Anyway, the Leesburg winter market is as good as a small town summer market -- I mean, it's still seasonal, obviously, so we're talking root veggies and green leafy varietals. But there are dairies, wineries, LOTS of meat suppliers (butchers/farmers), coffee roasters, etc. So Max and I picked up a nice loaf of cheddar and black pepper bread from Staff of Life bakers, some fresh Mozzerella from Blue Ridge Dairy, and various greens from Quarter Branch farms. Wondering what they looked like? I was hoping so...

ANYWAY...

Since we were so close to a wine-carrying Wegmans, I figured there would be no harm in swinging by. And, for the most part, there wasn't. It wasn't until we got home that things took a turn for the Crayola.

I should mention that Max, at this point, had eaten a breadstick from the market (whose ingredients I reviewed and cleared), a bag of FG-approved gummies, some homemade soymilk smoothie, and PF Whole Grain Goldfish.

We got home and, within the first ten minutes, Max was running around like a maniac. In general, he was happy, so I wasn't particularly concerned. It wasn't until I was sitting and chatting with my brother in law that I noticed the marker in Max's hand. I thought it was a Matchbox car and that he'd been driving around the room.

No. Not driving. Drawing.

Drawing a road.

With a red marker.

ON MY WHITE CARPET.

Now, to be fair, my reaction sucked. I believe I screamed, "Oh my god, Max, are you crazy???" which, in general, is probably not the best way to address my child. From then on, things just spiralled down. He was upset and yelling and crying and running around. We finally got him upstairs in his room for a while while we worked on the carpet. Then I talked to him, handed him a wash cloth, and made him come down and participate:

So, here's the point -- I'm pretty sure the goldfish are what set him off. I checked my FG Foodlist and, sure enough, no goldfish in the approved section. I could have sworn...

No matter. What's important is:
a. We're replacing that carpet anyway.
b. We saw what reintroducing a trigger really looks like. (i.e. crack.)
c. We got him involved in the cleaning and talked to him about the incident.

What I want to believe is that a four year-old should know better. That a good boy would never draw red marker on carpet. But, when he explained the (Lowes) commercial he'd seen with paint flying out of the bucket and all over the house and instantly transforming the house into a beautiful place, how can I fault him? I mean, really? I have a literal little boy. And this commercial told him drawing on the carpet wasn't what bad boys do -- it's what artists do. Click on the link below to see what commerical I'm talking about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0aPwhDDi7Y