The Haunted Mansion

Grocery shopping through Meijer with an adorable one-year-old in the cart seat can be a strange experience. Apparently, adults young and old, far and near, can't help themselves but engage with Thalia as I'm walking up and down the aisles. I actually jumped a couple of times when folks leaned in suddenly to get a closer look at my baby. To be honest, it creeped me out a little. Maybe it's because I'm an introvert who prefers anonymity when I'm squeezing the produce. Well, after several close encounters in a row today, I decided that the experience is not unlike walking through Disney's The Haunted Mansion, with delirious spirits materializing out of nowhere at every turn cooing ghostly "ooohhhs" and "aaawwws" with exaggerated grins and pointy, probing fingers....Most of these Meijer hauntings are actually very sweet, but I still can't shake the feeling that I shouldn't be exposing my child to this kind of unnatural attention...