Oh Yeah...This Is Why I Try Never To Take Kids Shopping!

I should have known it was a big fat mistake.   But I decided to take the kids shopping anyway.  I didn't have much to get and it was a craft store.  'How bad could it be?'  I rationalized foolishly.

I wanted to make a scrapbook of a family road trip to Cape Breton and I needed some scrapbook supplies.

In the store I found a scrapbook that was on sale for $9.99. 

We got some other things and then had to wait in a long line.  At the cash register, the scrapbook came up as being $29.99.  I explained that I was sure it was supposed to be $9.99.  There was a long line behind me so I was told I had to pay for everything else and then go get the one that was priced right and then pay for that separately.

I didn't like it, but fine.  I went to get one and made sure I got the one right in front of the sale sign so I was sure it was the right kind.

I had to wait in a long line again with two kids who were rapidly losing patience.

You know how it is; you're trying to focus on something and all you can hear is them pestering you with questions.  "Look at this, Mommy!"  "Can I have this?"  "Can we buy this?"  "What is this for, Mommy?"

It's hard enough for me to think straight on a good day, but in this kind of environment it's virtually impossible.

Anyway, you guessed it, it was the wrong scrapbook again.  The cashier called someone to help me.  Again I had to go back to the scrapbook aisle.

By this point my son was jumping on my back and whining loudly that he was so bored he couldn't stand it any longer.

We found out that the scrapbook signs were in the wrong place but I finally got the one on sale and then I had to wait in line again.

Waiting in line three times in a row with young kids?  I don't recommend it.

I should have just bought the first expensive scrapbook and then left, because by the end of it all I had spent money on crafts I had no intention of buying initially, just to keep the kids happy.

At first I was a great parent about it all.  They would say, "Can you buy me this?"  and I would say, calmly, "No, we're not getting any treats today."  "No, we're just here for scrapbook stuff, and nothing else."

By the third wait in line, they were saying, "Can we buy this humongous pack of foam bunnies?"  I thought to myself, 'the last thing I need to clutter up the house is a huge expensive pack of foam bunnies.' 

Yet by the end I was all: "SURE!  GO AHEAD!  WHY NOT GET TWO PACKS!"

Anything!  Whatever you want!

There's nothing like a long line to wear down all your parenting skills.

Note to self:  never take kids shopping if you can at all help it...