Death by children

Yesterday was our massive back-to-school shopping expedition for school supplies, new backpacks, school, P.E. and soccer shoes, and on top of that, two weeks worth of groceries, which I undertook with all three kids in tow.

Otherwise known as the day I died a slow and painful death. Death by children.

Looking back, it's hard to pick my favorite moment of the day:

- was it when Kendall took Blake to the bathroom for me and came back to report that he'd refused to wash his hands so she'd tried to make him and he'd just laid down on the floor, forcing her to drag him back to me by his legs?

- was it when there was a huge yelling ruckus at the entrance of the Goodwill (best place for soccer cleats!) and a clerk quickly announced "CODE 99, CODE 99" in a panicked voice over the loud speaker and all of a sudden store personnel were flying out of side doors and converging on the chaos while me and the kids hid in the shoe racks with looks of terror on our faces? (Or possibly excited curiosity on my part.)

- was it when Cooper decided, after asking for two months (and being promised) a pair of high top Converse All Stars for school, that he suddenly wanted a pair of no-name skate shoes from Walmart instead (his third pair of skate shoes, mind you), and upon being told no, burst into dramatic tears and went on and on for a good 10 minutes until he lost the privilege to get ANY new shoes?

- or was it when Blake pointed out a man ahead of us in the store and exclaimed loudly over his "weird long neck" for all the world to hear? (An especially shining moment.)

It's a tough call.

I'll tell you this though, up until yesterday I would have sworn that I wasn't even close to ready for summer break to be over. And today? Today I'm singing a slightly different tune.

That being said, the day did have a few upsides when all was said and done.
- We scored some great deals.
- My older two were immensely helpful in grabbing items for me off the shelves and loading and unloading the shopping cart and the car.
- I ran into a friend I hadn't seen in ages at Costco who gushed a little over my blog and made me so happy that I temporarily forget I was ready to do myself in.
- And lastly, after deciding to call it quits after six straight hours, even though I wasn't finished with all the groceries, I came back into town later in the evening alone with my mother and made this happy discovery at Target:

Lindt white chocolate treats for .97 cents each at Target? TOTALLY WORTH A SECOND TRIP TO TOWN. I mean, if my kids had been with me, I would have had to share!

(fyi: I was at Target to secretly buy Cooper's All Stars because I'm not really the meanest mother in the world. He's just going to have to wait a while before I let him know that.)