Written by Rowonna McNeely – Sunday afternoon, Aaron, Kiera and I decided to head over to Weakley-Watson to check out their Grand Opening specials.

“Can I take my baby?” Kiera asked Aaron as he pulled his cap on. He nodded his acceptance and she ran from the room.

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I finished getting ready, grabbed my purse and met Aaron at the front door. “Kiera!” I hollered. “It’s time to go, baby!”

Kiera stepped out of her playroom, completely loaded down. On her shoulder was a huge bear backpack and in her right hand she was carrying a baby carrier with her baby, Pumpkin tucked safely inside.

I slowly blinked before I said, “You’re not taking all that into Weakley-Watson.”

“Just my baby?” She countered.

“Yes. Just your baby. No car seat.” Aaron clarified.

“Deal.” She answered and headed out to the truck.

As we pulled into the parking lot at Weakley-Watson, Kiera spied one of her favorite people. “There’s Mr. Tim!” She announced from the back seat of the pickup.

She scrambled from the pickup with her baby in tow and stood quietly behind Tim waiting for him to notice her.

“Well, hi, Kiera!” He greeted her as he handed out samples from the grill.

I have to stop and tell you I love taking Kiera places and experiencing what she sees from her perspective. She has always enjoyed going into Weakley-Watson. They have always been great to her and that hasn’t changed since the Jacobs took over ownership.

We went inside and split up, walking through the aisles. Kiera pulled me down the aisle with the bolts. “Is this the nail I stepped on?” She asked.

The week before she had stepped on a construction staple, going through her flip-flop into her foot. Completely different story for another time, but she is all healed.

I looked at what she was holding in her hand. “Umm… no, baby. That is a bolt and it’s too big.”

She continued down the aisle. “What about this one?”

“No, honey. That’s a screw. You stepped on a staple/nail. They are longer and skinnier.” I tried to explain.

She continued moving down the aisle. “I’m going to go ask Dad.” She stated. She spied Aaron who was talking with Floyd, a friend and store associate and beelined to her Daddy’s side. I took that as my opportunity to meander around. What I didn’t know until later is that she asked Floyd to show her where the staple/nails were located.

Floyd, being the great guy he is, took her and her Daddy to locate the staple/nails just so she could see what she had stepped on.

While they were on the hunt, I added a few items to my basket. I gingerly set the item between Kiera’s bag of popcorn and her baby doll, who had been hanging out in the basket since we first stepped foot in the store.

Making my way around the store, I found Kiera and Aaron by the bird feeders. After discussing which bird Kiera wanted to feed, which color birdhouse would work best in the yard and that we were not buying more than one, a decision was made.

“Let’s go see the yarn!” Kiera exclaimed excitedly as she pulled me down an aisle.

Honestly, I was a little surprised. I knew that the Jacobs had done a lot of new updates and brought in new items but I wasn’t sure how yarn fit in. It took two aisles before the ‘yarn’ was located. Once located, it made a lot more sense.

“Look at this one!” Kiera held the end of a red and white rope. I grinned as she touched each of the individual rolls of rope and twine.

Once we finished admiring the rope, we moved on to the gardening supplies where Kiera quickly pulled down a garden kneeling mat. “This is perfect for changing my babies!” She bounced excitedly. “We could get this and I could change their diapers on it.”

She quickly focused on another item and put the kneeling mat/changing pad back in its place. Although, I could not resist letting Em Jacobs know that she didn’t need to register for a changing pad when Baby Jacob arrives. A little duct tape, two garden kneeling mats…

I’m really thankful that the Jacobs took up the Weakley-Watson heritage and continued with it. I love the feeling of being able to walk into our locally owned store and get a real sense of community; where they have things for the whole family. It’s a place where they treat you the same, whether you are six or sixty.