The good, the bad, and the toddler.

After reading a completely familiar account over at Amy's place about taking her boys to a quilt shop, I got to thinking about the last time I took Chloe in to a quilt shop. She's pretty good in the Joann's because we're mostly only there for supplies so it's a short trip. Actual quilt shops? That's another story altogether. I suppose it's unfair of me to even hope she'll behave. She's two. She's not a bad kid, she's just two. And when you're two you don't look at baskets full of jellyrolls and charm packs and think "My, aren't those pretty. Perhaps I will just admire them from afar." No, you think "Oooh! A basket!" and then you grab it and carry it around with you, putting things in and taking them out as you go.

C-'s local quilt shop is the completely wonderful Webfabrics.net (I know, I'm horribly jealous too) and we paid a visit the other day. The first half of the trip was a nightmare. Chloe was just a total pill. Grabby, knocking things over, struggling so hard I couldn't hold her, all that good stuff. C- said "She's being a good girl." I said "No she's not, she's being a butthead. The fact that she's so cute is the only thing keeping her from being nothing but a strange smell coming from the attic."

The staff was horrified. Either that or deeply amuse, I couldn't tell. Anyway. The second half of the visit was a dream. Why? This:

Coloring books, Lego's, little chairs, lots of books, a little kid haven. I still couldn't leave her completely alone but at least I could scan the nearby pattern racks without wondering if Chloe was pulling the rotary blades down on top of herself. Thank you, nice ladies at Webfabrics.net for making it a little easier to be a quilting mom. (Thanks also to the ladies at Artful Quilter who have a comfy couch with a Mr. Potato Head and a gigantic stuffed iguana that Chloe loves to cuddle).

In an environment where it is so easy to just stay at home and order off the web and lose the great tactile sensation of a brick and mortar store, it's things like this that keep me coming back.