I took all 6 kids out shopping this morning. UGH! That should sum it up right there. We had a simple task…get gifts and cards for our fathers. This shouldn’t be too hard to handle, right? Wrong!
So the first stop is Hobby Lobby. Brianna needed an embroidery hoop for her Achievement Day activity on Monday and I didn’t have one that was the right size and we couldn’t find any of mom’s. Since Hobby Lobby was right next to Half Price Books, I thought it would be harmless to run into Hobby Lobby to get that single item. Never will I think a trip with 6 kids who do not want to go into Hobby Lobby harmless by any stretch of the imagination. Fortunately, nothing got broken or damaged (including the children). The noise level, however, did not leave for pleasant shopping experiences for others. Sorry everyone.
Half Priced Books is a bit more relaxed, but managing 6 kids of different ages is no small task. This is especially true when they are all of a wide range of reading ability and desire. Truly I went in for a list of 3 books for Ben and directions to purchase another dictionary. No big deal. I struck out on 2 of the 3 books for Ben. The one I found was not cheap. I walked into the store thinking that I’d let each child get one book. Ha! That quickly changed when I had 2 of the children bring me things that were $14.95 each. Nope, not happening with 6 kids. I then set a $5 limit per child. Yikes, quickly add that up in your head when you have 2 children bring back 2-3 books each asking, “can I get more than one as long as the total doesn’t go over $5.” Yes, sudden reality check…$5 times 6 kids is $30 plus tax and that doesn’t even include what I was going to get for myself or Ben. *gasp* I shouldn’t be allowed to go into a book store unsupervised…I was supervised though…evidently the wrong supervision is more dangerous than an unsupervised, deal finding shopper. *laugh* The store was having a big clearance sale, so I finally told the kids they could have 1 book that was no more than $3 and 1 book that was from the $1 clearance section. Mission accomplished for all but 1 child and that child got a single $1 clearance novel. I actually didn’t do too badly total wise. I think the total was something like $35-37 for 13 books (including the hard cover Webster’s College Dictionary). The store itself….well, that was left mostly intact.
Then we were off to Freebirds. The kids were disappointed that we were not going into the eating establishment to eat. In fact, we didn’t even go into the eating establishment at all. I handed Andrew a $20 bill and told him to go get daddy the appropriate hat. *laugh* Totally not doing a third store. It was busy too so that helped the decision. I was just glad that I had a $20 bill on me. Why a hat? Because Ben took his hat to Scout Camp last week and well it came back totally nasty and well…it hit the garbage can. Problem solved.
Then we were off to Wal-mart. This place should be banned when there are 6 children involved. We didn’t need much. I needed to grab a couple more gallons of milk, my newspapers, and we needed Father’s Day cards for the appropriate people. I was also hoping to be able to get my father something. No go on the white dress shirt. Oh well, I’ll wander over to Kohl’s or some place and get him something there. Who knew that 4 greeting cards would add up. We didn’t even get the expensive musical or “record your own personal message” cards! We got one for Ben, my dad, their dad (Darin, Brianna, and Victoria’s), and my grandpa. Then you add the cost of the newspapers on top of that…$5.25 doesn’t seem like much by itself. I needed another ream of paper to print Sunday programs on. Then you get the other little things you need. Throw in a movie for your dear sweet husband for his Father’s Day gift…and well…umm….Oh and the kids talked me out of stuff to make root beer floats. *laugh*
Naturally, I had to stop for gas on the way home. Honestly, I tried not to go over board…..
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