Have Kids Will Shop

I can't wait to be done with Christmas shopping. I'm nearly there. I've spent much more time and money in stores than I am used to. It's always kind of fun at the start and then I get bored with it. We have a few electronic items to get but will have to wait until after Thanksgiving since the kids are out this week and it's hard to sneak away from them and impossible to take them even when shopping for the other kids. Since Squeaker steals she has to be constantly in view. The Boss begs and whines and asks for everything and is generally too pesky to take shopping. Drama Boy pouts if anybody else gets anything and none of them can keep a secret.

We took the kids to a pizza place for lunch. They played some video games and made it known that they did not get enough tokens. Always a treat to spend time with them.

We had to bag our planned library visit because we forgot it was Monday and the library is closed. We went to the thrift store instead to find a suitcase for Drama Boy. No suitcases but we found a pretty good haul of clothes for Lucky, Squeaker, and The Boss. Squeaker was miffed that I nixed a couple of shirts, one too low, one too holey, and one because it was a maternity shirt, but otherwise was cooperative.

The Boss flipped the cart over onto himself and begged for chips and coke from the vending machine. Drama Boy sulked because he couldn't find any clothes but was happy that he was allowed to get a good sized drum that he found.

Nobody said thank you but everybody was well-behaved overall and amazingly there was no bickering (except for a brief Squeaker/Boss flap) so no complaints from me.

Ill-Gotten Booty

That's two booty title posts in a row. I'm having an odd week.

And speaking of ill, I'm feeling sick today so I've been trying to work my regular job and keep up with things around the house between naps. Ana has been doing a lot of the chores that I normally do (breakfast, laundry) along with rearranging the toy closet and the living room.

I've been keeping my posts short because my usual speedy computer decided to take a vacation from its responsibilities which I think is quite rude. I'm on a borrowed one that just doesn't want to keep up with me (although I am extremely grateful to have it since I do like to continue to work and get paid and blog and all that.) Okay, where am I? Oh, here I am.

I have found evidence that Squeaker shoplifted from two stores over the weekend and the fault is totally my own. I know that she has that problem but for some reason I completely forgot that she is not allowed to wander around stores alone or without an adult and I allowed it twice. In the past she has even taken things when I am standing right there...and usually I am pretty observant. I have been suspicious enough to have sometimes checked pockets and waistbands right after a shopping trip and had her return stolen items to the store. (Okay, it was the wrong store but that's a different story altogether...and a funny one too.)

Just a few weeks ago, I searched her backback on a hunch and found my iPod which she was trying to sneak off to school. (My hunch was actually about a note from her teacher...can I help it if I turn it around and look like a detecting genius?)

After that incident, I really should have remembered that she is not allowed unsupervised in stores for even a few minutes and I told her that I wouldn't put her in that position. I really was in a good mood over the weekend and somehow believed everybody was a little bit normal. It really was delightful while it lasted though.

Me, Me, Me. Mine, Mine, Mine.

Proving that the Toddler Rules aren't just for toddlers anymore...

Sparky and Drama Boy came home from two days at their friends house where they had gone to the drive-in and had all kinds of fun. But THEN they saw the shopping bags and so, of course, they looked inside and when they saw that it was things for the girls they both had the toddler-of-all-tantrums. Drama Boy cried and Sparky scowled and threw hampers around after stomping up the stairs(who thought putting the washer and dryer in the upstairs hall was a good thing?). They were both rude to Lucky and DB whined and cried all the way upstairs "I can't believe we've had to live here soooooo long." Again, displacing reality in which kids should grow up in one place their whole childhood with their own version of "if we don't get what we want then we get to move".

It spoiled the drama a little bit that Ana had gone shopping for them too. But not before they whined that Lucky had gotten stuff too and complained that Squeaker got shirts with designs and theirs were too plain. They get mad every time someone else gets something (no exaggeration) even if they do too, because somehow, someway they always feel gypped.

Is it any wonder that we don't actually take them with us when we go shopping? Wait until they find out that the girls got new shoes before they did (even though they will, of course, get new shoes too). Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeez, guys!