Saturday, January 17, 2009

Friday's Midnight Madness


How come my sister can take her kids and my kids (7 total...7 and under!) to Super Target BY HERSELF, do her week's worth of grocery shopping, buy all the kids an Icee, buy herself a Starbucks, and everyone comes home in a good mood; while I, on the other hand, have been brushing my teeth for two days with Sparkle Fun Kid's Crest toothpaste because I am too scared to run into CVS by myself with 3 kids? Seriously, she could do that with her eyes closed, and I am getting anxious because I only have enough Sparkle Fun left for the morning brushes tomorrow.

Tomorrow is the day. I have done this enough times to know that there will not be one dry eye(including mine) when we are finished. Here's what I am anticipating:

I will be carrying the carrier (because the carts are too small to set one on and Annie can't sit in a cart yet), and the boys will be walking and holding hands (because I can't push them in a cart while carrying Annie's carrier). The boys will stay holding hands for all of 10 seconds when one of them spots the Valentine candy and darts off. I will struggle a bit to keep everyone corralled with me while I quickly grab the toothpaste, but I'll manage it. The trouble always comes at the checkout, where the man in front of me will be asking the cashier a 101 questions and then will check his receipt and realize the cashier forgot to give him his 1% cash back. The cashier will explain to him that he forgot to use his CVS Extra Care card. At this point, I will begin praying for patience as the man asks the cashier to void everything and start over so he can use his Extra Care card and get his 1% cash back. I am now contemplating whether we can just brush with baking soda until the boys are back in preschool on Tuesday and I can come back then...all the while I am still holding Annie's carrier and giving the boys the quit touching the candy and get by me NOW look. The boys will come to me for about 15 seconds while the cashier is waiting on the manager to do an override so she can ring up the man in front of me again, and then Jack will run off and Max will quickly say, "I'll get him" and chase after him. I will wait for approximately 15 more seconds, start getting very anxious, and then begin debating whether I take the carrier with me to go chase after the boys and lose my place in line, or do I leave Annie and the carrier in line to save my spot in hopes the boys are just around the corner? As the next 5 seconds tick by with surmounting panic and anxiety, I will quickly ditch the toothpaste on the candy display, grab the carrier, run after the boys, give them the You are in BIG TROUBLE look, and usher everyone to the car. NO DRY EYES.

I think we'll just go with the baking soda........

13 comments:

paige said...

YOU ARE HILARIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've got tears in my eyes from laughing at you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

ok - so I have never felt so guilty for being out of town! Yes it is me the absent father and husband! Babe, you are the best Domestic Engineer in the world! Love you!

Faith said...

Oh Holly, I REALLY hope that it goes better than that! Bless your heart. You do make it funny though ;-)

Heather Palacios said...

You need a sitcom. Really. Right after The Office would work 4 me. ;)

Gloria Rodriguez said...

Laughing My Bootay off!!!!! You are HYSTERICAL!!! And I'm so glad Annie didn't have to hold your place in line.....LOL

Anonymous said...

Holly you are killing me....I so remember those days. We had 3 under the age of 2. Life gets easier I promise. I have actually had this CVS experience. Honestly everytime my stranglers would wander off I would break out in song. If your happy and you know it works the best. You can't help but laugh as everyone in the checkout line is clapping and singing with you. Hnag in there =)
Melissa Lopez

Anonymous said...

Oh one more thing...our golden rule for outings by myself (my hubby works a lot too) hands are on the cart. If you're without a cart, you can use your pockets. Tyson was the most resistent to this...."you're in my pocket" thing but he got me back one day at Disney. Let's just say my drawstring pants were not tied tight enough. Nice older fella behind me was more embarassed than I was. He immediately threw his hands up to block the view. That's one for the baby book. =) Melissa Lopez

Kristin said...

Holly, hysterical. I can picture the scene and feel your pain. I work for a dentist and I'll bring you a secret supply so you won't have to worry. Too funny!!
Kristin

Holly said...

Melissa, thanks for the tips. I will definitely try them (ok, maybe not the singing one :). Hilarious disney story.

Kristin, thanks, girl for the hook-up! A year ago, I would have said, "Oh no, you don't have to do that, it's really not that bad." Now I say, "Ok, great, you can drop it in Chris' box at the church offices. Thank You! :)

The rest of you, so glad you were able to get a kick out of the happenings of my everyday life. :)

Jenny said...

This totally sounds like my life right now too! Crazy as it sounds... I was up at 5:30AM yesterday morning in order to run to the grocery store just so I could go by myself! Who gets up this early to go shopping?!?! Only moms of multiples who would rather loose a little sleep than brave the store with all three of my kiddo's!

Anonymous said...

holly annie looks so cute how are the boys how are you guys doing love susanna.

Glenia & her Crew said...

ok so this may sound a liitle wierd. My kids arents so small, but when I dont have the best big brother in the world around (Johnnie) I can't even handle Jr. by my self. I can't even imagine with 3 little ones all under 5 yrs old. So I aked my pediatrician who hs twin boys and walks her dog all at the same time how does she do that? (Her hubby is also a doc so they are on call alot) she says she has leashes for all of them! I was ecstatic! Can you imagine all 3 of them on leashes. But then again her kids dont dash off after the valentines candy like Jr would do. LOL! love you.

Holly said...

Kristin...thank you so much for all the tooth paste and tooth brushes! I mean, like, a REALLY big thank you!! My boys are thanking you too!!