So today at exactly 4 pm. I load all three up to go to Walmart. Let me be clear...I know the risk this is at this time of day, not only in terms of the wonderful demeanor of children at that hour, but in terms of the ridiculous amount of traffic I will have to endure on our return voyage. Knowing this, I count to 3, take a deep breath and go anyway.
I am in search of 2 cheap rugs to replace the existing cheap rugs in our living room. Yes, many would go to a real store for real rugs. No, not here. We favor the borderline indoor-outdoor carpeting. It seems to stand up to the tracks of muddy shoes, ground in playdough, paint splashes, spilled drinkable yogurt and best of all the dog yak. Actually, it doesn't stand up to any of these, but I feel no remorse when any of the above occur. All told, we have an $80 investment in our living room carpets and I'm not ashamed to share that bit of information. Some might call it a lack of decorating sense. I consider it just plain practical.
I digress. The point of my story is really not even about the rugs. Only to say that I did not find what I was looking for. I was quite discouraged with the rug search...and with the performance my children were putting on. My daughter is touching the cart as instructed (a trick I often use when nervous about losing her, in a parking lot, you get the idea), my youngest son is sitting in the cart (miraculous) but absolutely freaking out because the daughter is touching the cart, and my oldest is trying to mediate the situation taking on a decidedly parental tone. All this while I am trying to weigh the options in my head and calculate exactly how many inches make up a 5 x 8 rug....sad, but true. I had to stop and think about this. The noise in my head just got to be too much, so I declared it a failure and began to make a quick exit to the door. The kids were mad, as I announced "there will be no playground trip. No, there will be no horse ride out front either. I am done. This is nuts. You aren't behaving." (Like it was their fault I can't make a decision to save my life - or do simple math). I am embarrassed to say, I am not always great at my follow through with consequences, but this time I was serious. Nothing could get me out of that store fast enough. But, you know how that store can be. Once you are in, it's like a labyrinth to get out of. It is like a gravitational force pulling you into the abyss.
Well, in some twist of fate that I still don't quite understand, I turned a corner and there it hung it all it's glory. Muscles bulging, black and red insect boldly displayed before us, hood accessory clearly attached....you should have seen the look on my son's face....and my daughter and other son. Seriously, it was like time stood still. They were all frozen in place looking at each other, looking at me, looking at each other again. It was the funniest thing I've ever seen (well, that might be an exaggeration, but it was damn funny). I don't know what they were waiting to see. Perhaps they were waiting to see if I was actually going to have the chutzpa to walk past the coveted costume and leave the store like I had declared, or if I was going to cave. What was so cool was that the younger ones were almost rooting for the older. It was as if even at the ripe old ages of 2 and 4 they understood the importance of this pivotal moment. So all eyes were on me....(drum roll here) they were thinking, "what is mom going to do? Should we suggest she go get her Dunkin Donuts iced coffee at the kiosk now? Perhaps we should offer to pay for it? What should we do to tip the scales in our favor?"
I was just about to step away. The wheels on the cart had even started turning when my son says, "Mom, before we leave, maybe we should just see how much it is." Ahhh, he is a brilliant one, that son of mine. As luck would have it a sales person was walking by (it was not marked) so I gave it to him to go do the necessary research. Now we were all waiting...the kids holding their breath...to see what the outcome was going to be. He returned quickly, "ma'am (oh, I hate that), it's $14.99." My son knew he had me this time....and sure enough he did. If you could have seen the look on his face when he learned of the great bargain his perfect costume presented, you would have died laughing. How could a mom resist a deal like that - or his precious excited, appreciative face?
We all left the store with a victory in hand. My son, who has been discussing his Spiderman costume for about 4 months, now had it firmly in his clutches. He came home and immediately hid it. No one will see Spidey until the big day.
Make Way for Spidey!
Surely, Superman and Wonderwoman can't be far behind, right?