Yesterday was the rainiest day we’ve had in a while. It was also my day off with all 3 boys. We got up, ate breakfast, and as they played, I thought I’d sneak into the bathroom for a quick bath. That ended with 2 boys in the tub with me- one with his socks still on, and the third one sitting in the floor in front of the tub playing on his tablet. So much for privacy. We all get dressed and I decide, after breaking up the 3rd fight, that we need to get out of the house. I decided to go to “Big Lots” first, to see if I could find a small container/jar to hold spatulas/spoons on the stove. We get there and as soon as we pull in, Gabes has a melt down because this is not the store he wanted to go to. He refuses to get out of the car. FINE! I get the younger two unbuckled and unloaded, and stand under an umbrella, in the rain, pleading with my 5 year old to get out of the car. It is then, that I realized that this MAY have been a mistake. I finally shut the doors and pretend that we are going in without him, and miraculously, he emerges from the car, now crying because he didnt want me to leave him. We walk into the store, all dripping wet. Matthew takes his seat in the cart, and I allow the other two to walk after Walker promises me he will be good. I go down the first aisle, which had kitchen accessories, and hear gabes say, “walker has a knife!”. I turn around and sure enough, he had grabbed a knife off the shelf and was RUNNING towards me. What do I do?! Do I grab him? Do I move out of his way? If I yell, hes going to run faster. If I step towards him, hes going to turn and go the other way… ahhhhh!!! “Walker”, I said calmly. “Let’s put that down and go look at something else.” It worked. He brought the knife to me and I returned it to the shelf. “Walker has something glass!!” I turn, just as Walker runs around the corner holding a ceramic coffee cup. I spit out just enough words for Gabriel to understand to stay by the basket and dont move, and the chase ensues. I catch him on the next aisle, take the cup, and while clenching his wrist, and drag him back to the other aisle to return it to the shelf. We carry on with our shopping, only now, I am pushing a basket with Matthew, who has started crying, while dragging Walker, who had dropped to his knees, refusing to walk, and making Gabriel hold the side of the basket because I had no spare hands.

We make our way around to the Christmas aisle. I let go of Walker’s arm while I am looking at the discounted decorations. I squat down to look at something, and in that brief second, I notice the silence around me. My boys are gone. <sigh> I walk to the end of the aisle and hear giggles. I head towards the sound, and sure enough, there they stand, on the toy aisle. I was furious and just about to hand out some old fashioned butt whoopins- in the middle of the store without caring one bit about who may call “the people” on me, but surprisingly, they were behaving, and just looking at the toys- without touching. Ok, so this isnt so bad… I told them that they were not to wander away from me, and had to come back over to the aisle I was on until I was finished. They reluctantly followed me and stood beside the basket huffing as I shopped. I remembered I had a small pack of m&ms in my purse. Perfect. I got them out and handed each boy a small handful. They happily shoved the candy in their mouth, and soon had chocolate dripping from the corners of their smiles. All 3 hands came out wanting more, so I obliged. They were quiet, happy, and STILL!! More chocolate dripping, but this time it reached their shirts and hands. Whatever. I didn’t even care. Hands out again. My supply was getting low by now, so i gave each the last few that i had, and stuck the empty plastic container they had come in back in my purse. The older 2 saw me and at the same exact moment, both of them decided that they wanted it. Yes, they BOTH wanted the freaking empty m&m container, and started grabbing at it. Oh no… One snatched it out of my purse and tried to run with it, but the other was too fast and snatched it from him as he attempted to run by. During this process, walker dropped his last remaining m&ms and before I realized what was happening, he DOVE onto the floor, scooped them up, and shoved them all into his mouth as me and Gabes watched in disgust. Gabes shouted, “Walker! Spit those out-you’re gonna catch diseases!” I just stood there thinking that making him spit them out is pointless because they are already chewed up and dripping down his chin. We had a small “come to Jesus meeting” about eating off the floor in the middle of the aisle and I decided it was just time to go. “CAN WE GET A TOY?!!” Ha! I told them, “NO! Yall cant behave long enough for me to get through ONE store, so I am just going to skip the rest of my errands and we are just going to go home.” They pleaded and PROMISED that they will be good if they could get a toy. I usually wouldn’t have caved so easily, but I really needed to get some things accomplished on my day off, so I stooped to a new low and bargained with a 5 and 2 year old. IF YALL ARE GOOD FOR THE REST OF THE TIME, WE WILL GO TO 5 BELOW (Gabes’ favorite store) WHEN I AM FINISHED WITH MY ERRANDS AND YOU CAN PICK OUT A TOY. They agreed, and were on their best behavior while I finished looking around. As we went to checkout, they both asked for a drink. Sure, I guess that’d be ok. Gabes chose a root beer and Walker got a Sprite. After checking out, we stood at the front of the store, by the door getting our jackets and hats on. Matthew first. “Open it, open it!!” Walker excitedly yelled while jumping up and down while holding his Sprite. “Open it, momma!!” “Just a second, Walker,” I say, as I’m putting on Matthew’s hat. He continues jumping around, holding his Sprite. “I’ll do it”, says Gabriel, and grabs the sprite and before I could protest, spins the lid loose and quickly hands it back to Walker. I turn around, just as sprite bursts forth like a volcanic eruption, from all the jumping up and down, and all of us, get covered in a blast of fizzy, shaken up Sprite. We are now still wet from the rain, covered in chocolate from m&ms, and sticky from Sprite. I look at the cashier and ask for a paper towel. I get our mess cleaned up, and we head to the car. Gabes climbs in with his root beer, and I get him buckled. Walker next, then Matthew. All are buckled and ready for the next stop. I crank the car, and lay my head back on the head rest with my eyes closed for just a second before driving away. “PSSSSSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSH” “Uh, oh, mom!” I heard gabes say from the back. “What was that?” I asked, without even opening my eyes, because I am ready knew the answer. “My root beer SPLODED all over my pants and your car, and it was an accident, and I’m so sorry!” “Its ok, gabriel. Accidents happen.” I was over it. I put my car in drive, and off we went. The next few stops were quick and uneventful, so as promised, we went to “5 Below” and I let them pick out a toy. Of coarse, they chose a skateboard. Stay tuned for posts containing ER visits. We leave “5 Below”, and it is really storming now. I decide to walk next door to “Petco” to see if the rain slacks off some. We go in and look at the fish, the lizards, the birds, the turtles…wait, where’s Walker?! I frantically push the basket up and down aisles while calling him, and find him in the back of the store, building sand castles in a big thing of cat litter. Ok, let’s go. We did make one purchase- an algae eater type fish for our aquarium. I showed the boys which fish I was going to get, and to my surprise, Walker, my fearless child, was absolutely TERRIFIED of it. He hid behind me as the lady scooped it up and dropped it in a plastic bag. The lady asked Gabriel if he wanted to carry it, and as she handed it to him, Walker cried a little and took several steps backwards. The lady was still talking to me when I happened to glance over and see Gabes’ eyes light up when he realized that Walker was scared. “Don’t do it, Gabes!” I didn’t say it out loud, but he knew what my eyes were saying when he looked at me. A slow grin spread across his face as he looked at me one more time. “DONT👏even👏think👏about👏it.” I said, again, only with my eyes. My mouth opened to actually speak the words, just as Gabriel held up the bag with the fish in it, let out a “RAAAWWWRRR!!!”, and ran straight at Walker. I could see the terror in Walker’s eyes. I think his soul left his body for a second, because he started screaming and moving his feet for several seconds before he actually started moving. He took off at mach speed towards the back of the store, screaming all the way down the aisle. I looked at Gabriel, and asked in my meanest mom voice, “WHY did you do that?!!” I grabbed Gabes’ hand and the basket, and took off to find a scared walker hiding by the dog food. I carried him to the front of the store, where we grabbed our bags, coats, hats, and my purse and ran out the door, in the pouring rain to get in the car. We got to my car, and I told them to stand in the small grassy area that was right beside my car door while I loaded up the bags. I was mad. So mad that while I threw bags into my front seat, I was contemplating punishments. Then, from behind me, I heard giggling, and turned and saw my 3 boys dancing and jumping in the rain, having fun together. The 3 boys that were fighting and terrorizing each other just a few minutes ago, were now hugging and laughing in the rain. For just a split second, time stood still, and I felt my bad mood wash away as I stood, car door still open, watching my babies play together. I was told more than once just yesterday, that I have my hands full. Each time, I forced a smile and agreed. Yes, I realize that my hands are full. Everything is full- my hands, my house, my car, my schedule, but also my heart…My heart. The one thing I tend to forget about on days like this. My heart is so full, and I am so blessed, even on the hard days. I walked over, and scooped up my wet, giggling babies, feeling overwhelmed with guilt for all the yelling I had done that day, and kissed them all before buckling then into their seats and heading home. I realize that discipline is a necessity, and clearly, we still have some work to do in the “how to behave in public” department, but if I were to make a New Years resolution, it would be to do so with more patience. To remember that they are just babies who are curious and are going to make messes and touch things that they arent supposed to. And while they are learning how to behave in a store, I need to learn to sometimes, just let go, and dance in the rain.