Grocery Shopping with Children

Why is it that whenever I take my children anywhere ... there's a problem? They scream, fight, whine, etc. But, whenever my husband takes them -they're angels.

Why?

Typical conversation between my husband and me:

Me: "The children threw a fit in Kroger's today. I couldn't wait to get out of there."

Him: "Really? I took them out for hours, and they were so good that I barely knew they were there."

Why? Why?

I began yesterday afternoon in a good mood. Then, I went and ruined it by taking my children to Kmart and Kroger's.

The entire trip (counting to and from the stores in our golf cart) took slightly over an hour. You would have thought that I'd been torturing them all day long. My son whined. My daughter cried. My son complained. My daughter screamed. On and on and on.

But, here's the thing -- they weren't like that when we left the house. Oh, no! They were all for going shopping. Seriously. As soon as we stepped inside the buildings...that's when it all started.

I'm running around as fast as I can trying to get what we need. All the while, I'm feeding my daughter (that's the only thing that keeps her quiet) and trying to patiently deal with my son's complaints -"Are we done yet?" or "Can we go now?" Ugh.

And, why is it that when your children act up in a store, that there are always some people that look at you like you've been beating them? Or they look at you like you're supposed to instantly make them stop?

I mean -I'm offering them food, trying to make them laugh, handing over everything in my purse to keep my daughter occupied, and I still get these looks. What else am I supposed to do? Use my "mind-control" tricks on them to make them behave? If I actually knew "mind-control", then I wouldn't even be there! I would be home, sending a signal out to everyone to bring me groceries and money.

Some people are so annoying.

By the way, my husband and I took the children to Publix for a few things today. (My husband bought an octupus! AN OCTUPUS? Why? It was on sale, and he just wanted to try it. "I'm sure you can find a recipe on the internet for that." Sure. I'll get right on that.)

Anyway, the kids were great. No problems. NONE! They laughed. They played with one another. My daughter almost fell asleep near the end of the trip. There wasn't one scream, cry, or even a whimper.

So, from now on. Guess who's doing the grocery shopping?

I'll just stay home and practice my "mind-control".