The compliments of random strangers have led to this....

If you are looking for me on Saturday mornings, you can find me at the grocery store. I love to be there before 9:00 a.m. It's my idea of a perfect day. Sad but true, I enjoy it. And one of the reasons I enjoy it so much is because most Saturdays I don't have to bring the kids along. But today was an exception. Mike had to work, and he had to work early, which meant spending the morning dragging kids along behind a shopping cart. But life can't be all bliss all the time, so I didn't really mind. They've been fairly good recently, and I had high hopes for our trip today. And for the most part, they were good. Except when I forgot to get the oatmeal out of the cereal isle. We were all the way down by the cheese when I realized it. "Stay here." I instructed. Landis was pushing the cart, and it just seemed so much easier to make a quick run by myself. (He's not very proficient with the maneuvering thing....) So I ran quickly to the cereal isle. But they didn't listen (seriously now, why in the world did I think they would?) and they both showed up in the isle, having deserted our cart back with the cheese. "Dudes!" I hissed. "Get back there!"
"I was scared!" yelled Gibson -- whose new thing is to imagine that I'm abandoning him forever anytime I take two steps away from him. "Heaven help me..." I muttered as we made our way back to the cart.

And I don't know how it goes in your house, but in mine, God forbid that one child have any sort of advantage over the other -- even a 2 step advantage toward an abandoned grocery cart. So they picked up the pace, and then threw elbows, and then had an argument over who was the first one to the cart. An argument that had them squarely in the way of an innocent bystander trying to get her hands on some dairy products. When I caught up to the little hooligans, I told them to apologize to the woman for being so rowdy and getting in her way. Gibson, embarrassed, refused. Landis just looked confused. "Apologize." I insisted. "Now."
"It's OK", she said. "They're fine. Really. They're just being kids. It's fine. I promise."
I thanked her for being so understanding. Not everybody in Super-Walmart is so forgiving of their antics at 9:00am.
I turned back to the cart.
And then Gibson chimed in.......
"Yeah, Don't worry mom. We're so cute, no one minds........."