Something happened a couple of weeks ago that I can't stop thinking about. It was towards the end of a busy Saturday and I still needed to go grocery shopping for a few things. Jared was not home, so I needed to take all 4 children with me. Past experience has taught me that there is no easy, quick way to shop with 4 children. I braced myself and prepared to say multiple times, "Please don't touch that . . put that back . . . no- we're not buying that . . . please leave that alone . . .stay by me. . . etc." When we arrived in the parking lot I took a deep breath and gave the speech about how we just needed to get a few things and I wanted to get in and out as quickly as possible.
Now for the miracle part. We all got out of the car and the children held hands and walked into the store with me. We grabbed a cart and started to make the rounds for the few things on my list. The children stayed close to the cart and helped me find what I was looking for. There was no crying or fighting. Nobody asked me to buy something that wasn't on my list. As I checked off the last thing on my list I realized everyone was calm and smiling. I started to wonder what was going on. I was expecting to be battling for sanity at that point. Cheered by the quick shopping trip I grabbed a box of brownie bites from the bakery day-old rack for a special treat. The children were excited about the treat and even agreed to WAIT until we got home to eat them so we wouldn't fill the car with crumbs. By this time I realized that my children must have been abducted by aliens and that these calm reasonable beings with me couldn't possibly be the same children I usually have following me at the grocery store. Still, I was glad they were along for the ride. Now if I could just figure out how to get these same children to come with me next time I go shopping. I can honestly say it was one of the most pleasant shopping trips I've experienced.
