Shopping Nightmare

I took Rachel and Cole to Wal-Mart prior to picking Alexa from school at noon. Now I have had "bad" shopping trips before where I am circling the store because I can't seem to follow my list (or because I left it at home) or I have a hungry child who wants to eat everything in the cart or I have little people with me that are feeling a little too energetic for the confines of the grocery store. All of that pales to my shopping trip today. Poor Cole was so tired from our trips that he just wanted to be held. He is, however, almost 30 lbs. and I had one those huge carts with the double seat for kiddos which are hard enough to push with two hands, let alone one. Therefore, I would not carry him. I did offer him food from the cart which he vehemently declined. This in itself shows how tired he was because he didn't get to 30 lbs because he nibbles at meal time or only eats when he is hungry. My shopping was completed fairly quickly for not having shopped for food for three weeks (I was in line less than 30 minutes after walking into the store), but it was not quick enough for the little man. He started crying within 5-10 minutes from the start and by about 20 minutes was clawing to get out of his harness seatbelt amidst his screams. I only saw one person I knew (there may have been others I knew who saw me as I was trying to stay focused to get done quickly) who gave me a sympathetic nod and I heard a lot of "Someone isn't happy today" - YA THINK?! At the check-out, I let Cole out of the cart after I had put the groceries on the belt. He immediatly stopped crying and put his head on my shoulder with a sigh as if to say, "This is all I needed, Mom." As the clerk worked through our items, I was prepping Cole for the fact he would have to ride in the cart to get out to the van when we were done inside. I think he was hoping that if he ignored me, it wouldn't be true because I got neither his normal wide-eyed, enthusiastic nod nor his eyes narrowed, pouty mouth head shake. When it was time to leave the line, I gently talked to him about the next step and did my best to get him back into the seat which he fought with all his might (and he is one tough kid), so I plopped him into the front seat of the cart. At this point, I could feel many eyes on us as he continued to fight and scream. He kept trying to climb out and several people gasped as he did just that. Remember though, Cole is my climber so I really had no concern about him hurting himself as he climbed because that is just what he does. I was more concerned with him following directions and staying with us in the cart because I knew as soon as he got all the way out he would flop on the floor when he realized that I was not going to carry him. All gentleness left at this point and I could feel the concerned glances becoming more condemning stares. No worries on my part though because I was just doing what needed to be done. I did hold Cole at the van as I unloaded groceries into that back and he did fine getting into his carseat to leave. I guess all things considered, I shouldn't call this a shopping nightmare because Rachel was an absolute gem (I could have been dealing with both of them the entire time) and I only forgot one non-essential item and we got to school to pick up Alexa on time.