Shopping with children- why do we do it?

We are in the middle of preparing to leave to Las Vegas this coming Saturday. As I'm getting my boys' money counted to see how much they get to take, Ja-Ja informs me that he is in need of a wallet. Not sometime before we leave but at that moment. Of course it's about 5pm, no one has eaten dinner, Culligula is on a business trip, & I am pretty tired. Being the understanding mother that I am ( ha, ha!) I said OK.

I quickly shove food down their faces & off we go to search for a wallet. I could have gone to my neighborhood Wal-Mart but no, I chose to go to Ross. In my extreme tired state, I even went the wrong way but we continued on. We arrive at Ross & all of you know what happens next. Unless you're part of the fortunate group that has children that have some self-control. I am not part of that group. So we walk in & the chase begins under the racks of clothes. Then they continue on with the picking of "treasures". Some shoving is thrown in the mix to spice things up & an hour later we discover that Ross is fresh out of boys wallets. But no ladies & gentlemen the fun did not stop there. We continued our journey & found ourselves in Old Navy. This time I felt it best to run in & ask if they had wallets before I unleashed my herd of wild monkeys upon them. Lucky for them they were fresh out as well. As I was about to walk out, I did spot this bag I've been pining over which was on sale for 40% off. Yes, I bought it. (Relax, I was parked right in front & could see them from the counter)

When I returned to the car I was pleased to find Ja-Ja entertaining his 2 younger brothers. That gave me the encouragement that I needed to continue on this crazy journey. Next stop: TJ Max. I have to tell you, I just love the free spirits Jaycon & Combi exemplify. We walk in the doors & off they go. Waving their arms in the air, laughing & screaming, all the time I'm wondering if anyone has noticed that they belong to me. Thankfully Ja-Ja was trying hard not to join the mass chaos his 2 brothers were creating. As I see it, at that point I had 2 choices. I could walk out defeated or I could continue shopping as if I were completely oblivious to their crazy behavior. I chose the latter. Listen, I drove to 2 stores prior to this. Do you really think I was going to stop now? Thankfully we found a wallet he didn't care for & the boys continued on in their craziness. Eventually I had to place both of them in the cart, threaten to cut off their legs & I even got to look at some clothes for myself. Eventually Ja-Ja came around to liking his wallet & they were bathed & in bed before 8:30pm. All in all, a successful shopping trip. Meaning we're all still alive & we even accomplished what we set out to do.

Why do I do this to myself you ask? I'm insane & what's the definition of insanity? Doing something over & over again expecting a different result. That would be me. But if you asked me why I really did it then I would have to say because Ja-Ja asked. I could choose to be frazzled or I could see it through their eyes & feel the excitement of running through clothes in this large open area, laughing in hysterics when I'm found. Remember those days? They go quick don't they? Today I created a memory for me & for them. Mine won't be as good as theirs will be but nevertheless, it's a memory.