The other day I went to Target. I had been driving around with the boys looking for houses and we needed to get out and stretch. But it is cold here. Really, really cold. And wet. And just plain gross. So playing outside just wasn't an option. I needed to pick up a few things and for some reason it sounded like a good idea to bring the three boys into Target. Sorry, Target employees and customers. I don't let my children run around and touch everything, but they are loud and try to hold conversations with every person that walks by. They also ask for everything they see. "Mom, can we have that paint brush. Painting is my favorite. Please Mom, PLEASE." "Mom, can I have that? I don't know what it is, but it is my favorite. Can I have it? Please, Please, Please!". I have to admit that John does most of the talking and Gus just repeats "Pease, Pease." Or he just screams. Like that is ever going to get him what he wants. On this particular shopping trip I decided to look at the clearance clothes for kids. We were all doing pretty well. Anders was sleeping, the two older boys were singing made up songs about the things they were seeing on t-shirts and I was finding some great deals for all three boys. I found a Mickey Mouse shirt in Gus' size and added it to the pile. Gus, who had not been paying attention to me, zeroed in on the shirt and wanted to put it on. I told him that we had to buy it first and reminded him that he was wearing the cool new Spiderman shirt that his dad just bought him the day before. I thought that had worked. Less than a minute later Gus is standing next to the cart, shirtless, screaming because he couldn't put the Mickey Mouse shirt on by himself. I reminded him that we had to buy it and tried to put his Spiderman shirt back on. He took the shirt off again, threw it down and stood there crying. There are some fights that just aren't worth it. As frustrated as I was at this kid who was creating a bigger scene than normal I just had to make it stop. Since I was already going to buy the shirt I decided to quickly go through the line and buy it right then so that everyone...and I mean everyone, could resume normal activity. As soon as the shirt was purchased, tags cut and it was put on, Gus returned to normal. Like nothing ever happened. What a stinker. As I write this post, he is still wearing the shirt...two days later. Boys are so gross!
As much fun as that outing was, I don't think I'll try that again for a good long while. I have friends with more kids than I do who go shopping with them in tow all the time. I think I'll let them be the supermoms and enjoy my time at the store. Alone.
