She should have known - buffistas are never boring.

Nonian, I think everyone has great advice. Good luck!

I just got back from grocery shopping. Annabel was sitting in the child seat part of the cart, and enjoying herself hugely as she almost always does any time we take her out of the house. But at one point I looked down to discover her chewing as hard as she could on the metal of the shopping cart, the part she could reach by bending forward. Now, I'm far from a dirt-averse or germ-paranoid parent--my philosophy is that she's a strong kid, so she might as well start building her immune system sometime--but still, EWW. I tried offering her pacifier instead, but she thrust it aside and went back to shopping cart.

Silly baby.

Nonian. I will probably get shot down for this, but have you considered telling your FIL ahead of the scan of your fears? He may not realize what a downer he is being. Tell him you are afraid he will throw cold water on your joy. I have noticed that many family problems come from non communication.

I suspect that if he has any brains he will at least try to mask any dissapointment. I also suspect that he is just following a family speech pattern.

Susan, they used to sell padded bumpers that you could snap over the shopping cart handle while you were using it, and launder, afterwards. Safety First or one of those companies used to market them.

cereal...

Oh, I never saw this, but it's probably overkill. [link]

Susan, what I was talking about wasn't this [link] elaborate. It was just a little thing that snapped over the handle, only, but you get the picture.

Deb, I just watched my tape, and you look so fucking amazing I rewound it and rewatched it....3 times! You were reminding me of someone well-known, and I paused the tape and kept looking away from the TV and looking back, as if maybe it would come to me in a flash. And then I got it:

Your eyes -- Eliza Dushku. Totally. (Though, really, you're 100% gorgeous Deb and don't need to look like anyone else.) Love love LOVE the hair -- color, cut, style -- so fucking amazing.

Very yeasty.

connie, preemptive medical~ma for your hubby and strength to you too...

Nonian, what Betsy, Cindy and others have said - preemptive happiness and joy, just in case he needs a "hint" on how to react.

Silly Anabel...

My cat just stole a piece of chicken from my Chinese food. It's kung pao. I don't think she was thrilled with her prize.

Very yeasty.

Always one for overkill, Susan, I have one of these. Not just for shopping carts, however. I've found that it is GREAT for those hard, wooden high chairs in restaurants. They never looked comfortable to me and this keeps Owen happy in his for well over an hour--enough time for us to eat a decent meal out (which is rarer than it used to be, but still does happen). Mine isn't so much germs as comfort. O tends to slouch and I'm always worried he'll bang his head on the metal part of the cart or the handle.

Although I like the second link Cindy linked to. That's kind of cute.

Connie, your hubby may have all my back-ma.

Heh. I love the descriptions of this parent's games with his son:

Writer Matthew Baldwin frequently writes about his eight-month-old son—known through the internet as “The Squirrelly”—at defective yeti. Their current favorite and wholly invented games are “Crash & Rescue,” “Gravity Goes Haywire,” “No, YOU’RE A Big Silly” and “I’m Gonna Eat Your Fingers Mrrragh!”