Grocery shopping can be liberating...

Or at least, ditching your cart & walking out can be...  Maybe I should start at the beginning?
The last time I left the house for more than 20 minutes at a time was a week ago last Monday.  Today was Thursday.  It's been a while.  There are a couple of reasons for this.  The first being The Blizzard of 2011, which dumped about 18" of snow on us last Tuesday.  The school cancelled classes for the rest of the week which left me home with our 2 kids & the weather too cold for them to go outside & play in the white stuff.
Then, the oldest one developed a fever which turned out to be the flu (after subjecting him to a battery of tests, which no doubt, I'll be stunned over the bill for), so even when they could go back to school, he couldn't.
Fast forward to today - no school again (thanks to another 4" of snow yesterday), no fever, roads are relatively clear of snow, so we "went out".  First we ate pizza.  It was deeelicious!  Best thing I've eaten in ages!  Then we hit the grocery store.  Thanks to not leaving the house in almost 2 weeks, I had a long list.  Reminded the kids of the best behaviour rules before we went in and...
Almost immediately, it started.
The whooping & hollering.  The whining & complaining.  The bickering & fighting.  The running away & hiding.
I told them to stop & reminded them of the rules several times.  And yet, it continued & escalated into racing arond while yelling & running into people.  Climbing on & sitting in shelves, on items we weren't buying.  Yes, folks, you're not alone when your kids misbehave in public!  Finally, I told them that we would leave withOUT our groceries if I had to tell them off one more time.  "Oh," they said, "we'll be good - we promise!"  Not 2 minutes later, they were back to their race.  I told them to put their coats on - we were going home.
They cried.  They wanted one more chance.  They said they forgot.  I said, "No. Enough is enough & I've had more than enough"  And we walked out.  It's the 1st time I've just ditched a cart full of groceries & walked out of a store.
And it was so liberating.
Of course, I'll have to go back again tomorrow & get the groceries I still need.  But the kids will be in school & I'll get it done in half the time, with a lot less stress, which makes me happy.
And maybe, just maybe, they'll remember this little lesson & behave the next time we have to go the store.  Then again, maybe not...