Proud Mommy Moment

we ventured into the world of Christmas shoppers today...

In all my wisdom, I decided that we (as in me and my five tinies) could hit a couple of stores before school let out, and it would be fairly mellow. The kids would get a chance to shop for each other, and I could attempt to ......look? (did I really think I could keep anything a secret when they were required to be touching the cart at all times?)

First, we went to Target, and I soon learned the blinding error in my judgment when we pulled into the parking lot. There were no parking spaces! I've never had to park 3 blocks (okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little) away from Target! We finally found a place that was reasonably close to a cart corral, which would allow me to load up the kids and make the trek to the front door without taking more than one rest stop. We got out of the car and I herded the horde - only to find no carts. Luckily, the second corral had something to offer my already aching arms.

As it turned out, every Mom in the county and all of their friends were at Target this afternoon. School was not yet out, and they were taking advantage of those final hours. I charged in with my shopping cart loaded up with all 5 kids (I literally had to charge, otherwise I couldn't get up enough momentum to make the cart move), and while we negotiated our wide turns and snail speed, the lone parents walked briskly - getting down to business. I cut my list short, hoping to get in and out with no breakdowns. The kids were doing well, they listened, they held on, they didn't persist when I told them no.

As we were waiting in the checkout line, I was feeling pretty proud of my offspring. I didn't want to strangle a single one, and no self-restraint was required on my part. The line was not going fast, but we were holding - we even got a couple of complements on our crew. Our moment of glory came when the lady in front of me took her bags to leave. She turned around and handed me 4 candybars "for the best-behaved kids she'd ever seen at a store." I beamed. My children got what was coming to them, and it was in a much better form than they could have imagined.

I think I might have the courage to venture out of the house again.