The Cure for the Shopaholic

Just wanted to give you a little taste of what shopping with a 5 year old boy and a 3 year old boy after two nights of sleep-overs with their buddies (meaning sleep deprivation) is like. For some reason, in the midst of the madness, I recalled a similar moment in the past in which I am pretty sure the words I will not shop with both boys after sleepovers again ran through my head. Hmmn, a little too late with the memory.

The boys had a wonderful time with their buddies and as is the norm for sleepovers, sleep was comprised. But, I was determined to do a little shopping. I had already narrowed it down to the bare minimum - 5 stores. That was it. Some of them would just be a "walk in, look around, walk back out". 5 stores. Is that really too much to ask? Yes, it is.

We started off the day like this:

C: How many stores today, Mommy?
Me: 5! That's it! Only 5! Some of them will be really quick ones, too. I have a sticker for you and your brother for each store. If you are well behaved, stay with me, do not grab any merchandise and have best behavior, then you will earn a sticker and at the end of our little adventure, you can each get a giant bug - we have one spider and one praying mantis.

C: So, how many minutes will we be in each store?
Me: Not really sure. Maybe 10 minutes in one, and 1 minute in another.

As we arrive in the parking lot, R announces he has to go potty. Luck was on our side. The restroom was two doors down from the store I wanted to shop in. We all went potty and headed to shop. Right for the clearance section. Found a few things, headed for the fitting room.

R: Mommy, I have to go potty.
Me: What?
R: I have to go potty.
Me: Really? Because we just went potty like 2 minutes ago.
R: Yup.

Off we go. Again. We all go potty. Back to the store. Head straight for the fitting room where girl has held my items. I start to try on.

C: Mommy, I have to go potty again.
Me: Seriously! What is it with all this pottying? You really have to go again? Can you wait 5 minutes?
C: Need to go now.

Back to the potty. I have not caught on yet to the allure of these restrooms. Sure, they have automatic flush and sinks, but really. C has a crisis because the automatic toilet won't stop flushing while he is trying to go. I manage to get the door unlocked and go in and save him from the tidal wave.

Back to the store, purchased my items, cut the store list to 2 and got out of there. Boys got their bugs. I'm not even sure I like to shop anymore.