My fave checkout story is from my very-cool little brother when, at age 35 or so, he rather suddenly became a daddie. He reported with relish about the day he caught himself rocking an armful of paper towels in the checkout line... that swaying, rocking motion? He was exhausted from walking the floor with the colicky son he was so proud of. Ydy at a store here, I saw a new daddie doing something similarly "uncool"-- blowing bubbles and making babytalk sillies to a wee one hidden under a pile of blankets in his carrier, atop the cart.

At checkouts, nowadays, one of my favorite activities is to engage fussy little ones ahead of me in line (they are facing me from their cart seat) in a game of peekaboo-- so mommie or daddie or grannie get a respite from soothing the crabbies. My mind is chckful of babyface memories of those! :~)

~Susan