Noise, noise, noise

Grocery shopping, thrift store shopping, flea market shopping, department store shopping, the mall and garage sales. Now, I must preface this blog with....I have kids, I love kids. But, here's my question...why do adults insist on bringing their small children to these places on a Saturday when there are 400 cartoons to choose from? They don't want to go, they won't behave if you make them!

I was in Harris Teeter on Thursday night and there was a toddler in there, in a cart, being pushed by his mom as she was shopping. He wasn't mad, he was, perhaps, giddy. He kept letting out this "happy" screech that made the hair stand up on my back (not even sure I have hair on my back!). I could hear him as clearly as if he were right next to me, but he was actually 4 aisles away! I could not WAIT to get out of that store.

Friday night, while I was waiting for Spencer to call me from the football game, I went to the mall to just walk around and see if there were any bargains. It was 8pm. Granted, it was a Friday, and the mall is the place for all the young'uns, but I'd consider those kids to be 11 and above. But, the babies and toddlers...screaming, crying...Oh My God! It was 8:00...they wanted to be home in a bath-tub with their plastic friends. I could not even visit two wings of our small Cary Towne Center. I had a headache. Left.

Today, this morning, I was looking forward to going to my favorite thrift stores, TJ Maxx, Classic Clothiers...Again, 400 cartoons vs. shopping in confined spaces. Kids, running away from their parents...hearing the mom say 4 times "I'm not going to tell you again to come over here"...REALLY? I bet you do! Or, better than that..."If you don't stop screaming, we're going to leave"...they don't stop screaming, and she didn't leave. But I did.

When my kids were little, they too, would get one warning, then...and I didn't care if the cart was full of frozen food...we went out to the car. Once they settled down, we'd try again and there was my cart, waiting for me. I would praise the kids like crazy once we got back in the store and they behaved well...I did not buy them a plastic toy that would end up getting flushed down the toilet within 3 days. If they didn't settle down...we went home. That happened less than 5 times with both my kids in their young lives, and though it is inconvenient...it works!!

I do have another solution to this problem...one adult in the store needs to throw a tantrum and all the little kids will surround that person with such amazement that all the other adults will shop in peace. Seriously, that would be a hoot.