This morning, Brady informed me via text that he had forgotten his wallet at home again. We really needed a few grocery items, being that my parents were coming for supper tonight, and his parents tomorrow night. But life happens, we all forget, thats fine. So I got the kids ready to go and we headed into the city. I have to say, I was mildly passive aggressive about the whole thing, but not too ticked. I like my kids, they do great on outings now, so I figured it would be nice on its own to just be out together. We were just going to do Walmart, anyway, and the kids love Walmart.
I know you’re all probably expecting a story about how horrendous the shop was, and all the meltdowns that the kids had. But they didn’t melt down. Not once! Rowan sat quietly, wide awake in his car seat the entire time, even when I really messed around with his positioning. Turns out we have to get creative when buying tubs with three kids attached to one cart.
Laela sat incredibly beautifully and quietly the entire time as well. Looking back on the whole experience, I barely even remember her presence. I know that sounds awful, but she really was just quiet and user friendly.
Dekker walked alongside the cart, or rode on the end. He was eager to carry products I planned to purchase until I pulled another thing off of a shelf, when he’d switch off and carry the new one. He was polite when people would talk to him, and followed what I’d ask of him. Seriously, perfect group.
We got just about everything on our list, plus a few extras, of course, and then lined up. The woman in front of me in line was so very polite to place her one item at the very back of the conveyer belt so there was no way I could unload my stuff in any advance. When there was finally room, I unloaded and looked for my wallet.
It was in the diaper bag.
Where was that?
In the van.
Perfect.
I know I’m not the absolute very first person to do this, but I’m not sure its a common thread either. I told the cashierI was in a bit of a predicament, and to my relief, her eyes seemed to light up a bit. She seemed entertained. So I told her I forgot my wallet in our van, and she almost seemed disappointed.
“Well, thats ok” she said.
Huh. Ok, great that she wasn’t put off. So I asked if it were still possible to kind of hold onto my order and I’d run out with the kids, grab my wallet, and come back. She got all shiny and excited again and said “I’ll even watch the kids for you, free of charge.”
So this could be the part where you guys all completely judge me, but I decided to take her up on it! I knew Dekker wouldn’t do it, but I thought the others would likely be fine. I thought Laela might get upset, but she recovers much quicker and easier. So I quickly observed my kids – Rowan was bright red, holding his breath, taking a dump (perfect), and Laela was sitting there so innocently, full of smiles and empty of cares. I said “bye” to her, and she waved like a maniac, squealing “Byyyyyeeeee!” So I grabbed Dekkers hand and we bolted.
Deks could barely move by the time we got out to the van. I made it a big game of “runrunrunrunrun!” but I really did drag him and make him run the entire way. When we got to the van, I rifled through the diaper bag and realized the unthinkable. No wallet. *face palm* Awesome. So I sheepishly grabbed Bradys wallet that I was going to bring to him, and ran in to pay. More “runrunrunrunrun!”
When I arrived back at our till, it was as though no one had even missed us. The cashier said they hadn’t fussed once! I paid for our stuff as the people in line kind of chuckled at me. One woman offered up “Oh, we’ve all been there,” to which I couldn’t help but respond “Really, though? Have you?” They just laughed at me and suggested I didn’t tell my husband. Funny ladies. This was way too awful/awkward/entertaining of a story not to share!
I got the kids back to the van alive, finally, and put Dekker and Laela inside. I went to carry Rowans bucket seat to the other side when I saw Laela playfully chuck a ball out the door. Because I didn’t look insane enough already, here I was, chasing a hot pink ball through the parking lot. Because I already didn’t appear to be able to handle my kids, my cart full of purchases was rolling away.
Oh. My. Gosh.
Strangely enough, though, I have to say that my cashier was a HUGE help to me. I think its a big gift that she offered to keep an eye on my kids. What if they were terrors and wailed the whole time? She understood, and wanted to make it easier for me. I SO appreciated her. Of all the crazy parts of the day, I didn’t feel too wildly out of control. Woohoo for a weirdly successful day!!
*Side note. My wallet was in the console. The. Entire. Time. I guess we’ll just chalk this all up to life experience!