So, I told you Gty was outta town, right? Yeah, he is. Did I happen to mention that he extended his trip in UT so he could go to the BYU football game today? Hmmm, I didn't? Well, he did. He asks me about these things several weeks in advance. I give the good wifey response of "Oh, sure, I'm sure that will be fine." But then, when Friday night rolls around (when he usually flies in) and he's in UT hanging out at his parents' house & I am STILL here with the kids and the mice.... well, then I start getting ticked.
Anyway, so I wake up this morning in a bit of a grumpy mood as the first thing I see is Gty's side of the bed all neat and tidy (I'm apparently a very still sleeper) and this reminds me of my situation. I throw on my gym clothes and go to my hip-hop class. That ups my mood considerably. How could it not? I'm hittin' and jammin' and crumpin' all over the place. It's good times. I come home with a lifted mood to bored kids and realize I'm quite bored myself.
Idle hands are the devil's playground. Or however that saying goes.
I proceed to make a very poor decision. I announce to the kids that we are all loading in the car and going to Wal-Mart. I wanted to get more mouse traps (speaking of that, go ahead and take my poll over there on the right, fancy eh?). And we were out of Honey Bunches of Oats. I gotta have me my Bunches. My morning meal of Mini-Wheats just didn't do it for me. Have any of you tried the Malt-O-Meal knock-off of HBofOats? I'm askeered to try them but if it's good I'd totally get it.
5 mintues after arriving I wonder why in the heck I thought coming to Wal-Mart on a SATURDAY was a good idea. I curse myself for allowing this to happen as I look over an TBone is squeezing all the plums, Jbird is filling one of the produce weighers with a mixture of fruit to see if he can get it to 10lbs, and BeeBee is insisting that she can just hang on the side of the cart rather than sit in the seat thingy. Fun.
But then an epiphany strikes.
I have no where else to go.
I have nothing else to do today except hang out with my kids.
No one is waiting at home for me (except the mice).
This could be fun if I'd let it.
So, we proceeded to spend a good hour and a half in WalMart and only got about 15 things. I didn't mind when Beebs spent 10 minutes deciding on either Princess Fruit Snacks or Barbie ones. I let her throw a fit in the aisle when I wouldn't let her have both (it's the principle of the matter, really). We just sat and looked at her until she was done and then she came along nicely. I let each of the boys spend a while picking out a box of cereal that they have always wanted but I have never bought them before (TBone got S'morez (?) and JBird got Frosted Flakes, btw). Then we went over to the toy section and they played with everything they could, sat on all the Dora & Spongebob chairs, played with the ginormous bouncing balls, etc. Eventually they got bored and we headed out the door.
I realized that TIME is a huge factor in my enjoyment of my kids & situations like this. If I had a million other things to get done today or somewhere that I had to be at a certain time then I would have rushed everyone, been angry at the constant lolly-gagging (we lost TBone, like, 3 times but if we waited around long enough he always turned back up) and no one would have been happy. Instead we enjoyed a day together out & about and now everyone is content to just be at home for the rest of the evening & hang out.
Now, since he doesn't fly back until 2pm tomorrow I really need to try and keep this attitude going for church tomorrow. Of course then we will have to be there at a certain time and we'll be confined to a bench area that's about 8 feet by 3 feet for 1 hour and 10 minutes . . . . exactly how "frowned upon" is diet carbonated beverages in the chapel? Especially ones in giant Rte.44 cups from Sonic?
Just wondering.
15 comments:
I always frown at the people who bring diet coke to church. And hiss at them. Out of jealousy.
Do you realize you used the word "fun" in reference to Wal*Mart? Just checking. But a few hours of quality time usually goes a long way with kids. We get it in everyday, believe me or don't, else they'll just stand beside me and stare at me longingly. Sometimes that quality time backfires, like feeding a bear just one granola bar, and they come back for more way too soon. "I just fed your soul. Go away."
How sad is it that I'm a little excited by the fact that you're blogging about your Walmart trip and I WAS THERE! :)
Alas, our Walmart trip was not quite so fun. Glad you made the best of a husbandless Saturday.
yeah, I noticed the words fun and walmart together..isn't that an oxymoron? Glad you guys had fun.
I say bring a 44 oz-er to church and see if anyone says anything. You can say it's a medical thing...like if you don't get your daily dose you or your kids could end up in a mental institution.
Agreed. Two factors that lead to happy parenting:
1. Not being in a hurry
2. Keeping water in your car
Wha?? I ALWAYS have fun at WalMart!! Just not on a Saturday... with all three kids, knowwhati'msayin? If it's just me, I peruse all the aisles, look at all the different sizes and colors of bins, imagine what I could do with them, wander through the electronics and get some prices on things I'm interested in, have an eye appointment, get a haircut, squeeze in a mani/pedi and purchase a 2 gallon jar of pickles. What, praytell, is NOT fun about all that??
Jenny! I totally meant to give you a shout-out. Or at least a ::wave!:: for seeing you there! Dang! Well, it was good to see you... in all your BYU garb!
VegasJenny... QT with the kids EVERY day? So I guess Saint Jenny isn't just a clever name then? Geesh.
Flem... you and & your water. I swear....
My sister (not Jenny) used to empty out her scripture case and fill it with Readers Digest and potato chips. No one seemed to care. You could just put the diet in a sippy cup and occassionally sneak a sip. It would definitely be for medicinal purposes.
Walmart and Saturdays are a definite no no.
That $2 jar of pickles is just oo hard to pass up. Just ask Flem.
I'm usually the mommy that says, "I don't do that" when my kids ask me to play Monopoly with them or spend hours watching Char Char make it to the end of Wow Wow Wubbzy's Underwater Adventure on Nick Jr. I'm also a HUGE advocate of Chuck E Cheese as many of you may know already. That is my favorite place on earth when there is no hubby around. The gaurd the door with number matching hand stampers (so's I don't have to watch Char--they do it for me), every game costs only one token, you can print off coupons from the internet, bring my book or magazine and make a couple hours of it. The kids stop by my table on occasion for a refill of food for their tummies or tokens for their cups. But other than that I'm chillaxing next to the skeeball with nary a care in the world.
And if I ever have a say in it, they'll put soda fountains in the kitchen at church. They can limit refills to in between hour blocks. And they can even have the drinks "labeled" caffeine free but we all will know differently. ::wink::
Can I get a HOLLAH?
HOLLAH!
Memzy, how can we make it so you "have a say in it?" Like, start a petition or something? Cuz I'd sign that bad-boy.
Part of the reason people with kids like Walmart is because no matter how badly behaved your kids are, they are never the worst ones in the store.
At least at the Walmarts in my past- maybe not in sprawling suburbia...
Tiffers,
I totally have a solution for you. This actually works (I've done it myself---only with water of course). Take a BIG purse or tote bag--put your big gulp in one corner and make sure you properly secure it with your scriptures and lesson manual so it won't fall over and spill. If it does spill--look at Brynn and say "Brynny--you should tell mommy when you have to go potty and not wait so long". And there you have it----SCORE!!
I almost forget--the drinking strategy. Bend over like you're picking somethng up off the floor and take a big drag on the straw. When you come up--make sure you have a book or something in your hard to validate your actions.
This is where I get it, btw.^^
Get what? What?
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