Now I Know Why Some Moms Shop at 24 hr Stores at 10PM

Target and Tots ... as in Toddlers... Hooray!

Tuesday was Target Day. The day I lose my mind by taking all three preschoolers with me to do our weekly grocery/necessities run. This is made even more hectic by the fact that I take a HUGE 3-ringed Bargain Binder stocked full of coupons with me.You can just seem me pushing one of those big "sister" buggies.. the kind where one kid sits strapped into the cart, then the other two are harnessed in to this big red seat that is attached to the buggy... Well.. I push that with one arm, and hold the binder with the other. It is quite a sight.

We made it to Target, and the trip was peaceful for the first 15 minutes. Then, everyone started getting antsy in the big buggy. So, I decided to swap them all around. I put the baby in one of the harness seats and let the big girls walk.. they HAD promised to behave if they could walk... And, the baby was happily going "Whee!!" every time I turned down an aisle. But, it all fell to pieces shortly, as per usual. I stop to consider the price of an item and hear "I'm sooo sorry!" coming from my 2 yr old as I simultaneously here a CRASH and SHATTER!! Just that quickly, she had decided to break the no touching rule. She picked up a bundled 4 pack of ladies' foaming shaving cream... It was heavier than she thought..and she dropped it. The plastic casing holding the 4 cans together split and shaving cream lids went this way while the cans went that way... I was quite furious and she was quite full of sorrow.. (I examined the "broken set" and the non-broken sets and actually, it should not have done that from a short drop. Someone else's kid broke it first! Yes!! Rock on! Whew, now I don't feel responsible enough to buy it) The worst part was that the sound had attracted this lady shopper's attention. As I always do, I turned an apologetic smile her way.. and she scowled a judgemental look I really never see from fellow shoppers, and then she glared at my child. Whatever, lady. Just be glad they go home with me!

I thought that had sufficiently taught my 2 yr old she needed to behave the rest of the trip. She did stay pretty close to me after that, and didn't fuss or protest about anything... But when I stopped at the clearance rack by the detergents, etc aisles. They had a bunch of great Glade and Febreeze 75% off clearance items and I had coupons! My 5 yr old stood right next to me to help me read the scents of the products... and the 2 yr old tip-toed 3 ft away (I was keeping an eye on her, just in case).. she had that look on her face.. the mischevious grin and crazy around the edges eyes... I should have stopped her when I saw that look, but I was so darned curious to see what her little mind was stirring up... Fast as can be, she grabbed the first spray bottle she could find and dashed back to the 5 yr old, sprayed her in the back once, and put it back on the shelf again, giggling all the time. Mind you, I was forming the words to tell her to stop.. but it all happened in a blink. I grabbed her hand, and I pushed the buggy towards the check out. I told her firmly "That was inappropriate! Don't ever do that again!" The 5 yr old says, "What did she do, Momma?" I decided to leave her oblivious. If she knew she had been sprayed with some cleaner, probably Lysol All Purpose, she would have gotten all dramatic about it. Sigh.

At about that point, a lady employee walked up and asked if I was finding everything ok. I gave her my standard reply of "Yes, UNLESS you have a hidden day care center in the store where I can leave the kids while I shop.. like, you know, IKEA?" She laughs and replies with a "I had 3 kids, too. 2 were twins. They are grown now. Trust me, you will miss this." You know, when folks tell you to cherish this time, and that you will miss it, I find it very irritating and discouraging. If I will miss this, that means it only goes downhill from here. This is to be the easy "golden age". UGH. Also, when they say "you will miss this" the "THIS" is referring to an event or chain of events/behaviors that one finds irritating or unpleasant. Something that people have to encourage you to TRUST them that the "THIS" stuff will possibly, inevitably be missed, no matter how incredulous that may seem. So, they are acknowledging that your children are acting like little miscreants. They are letting you know that they know that your kids are being deviants, AND they are letting you know that you should enjoy this, because it only gets worse from here... (It is kind of like when an older friend of mine says "You complain about your hurricanes messing your house up.. but your house is at its cleanest right now! When you get older, things will just slide. I bet you can eat off your floors right now. You can't eat off my floors". SIGH. Really? This is the golden age? This crazy mess of things? LOL.)


Well, at least I survived that trip. My family will be well-nourished for another week. And, at least my life is interesting! AND, I saved $60+ on my trip to Target by using coupons and such and I only spent under $100.. AND I had the kids with me. That is an accomplishment.