Shopping with My Little Helpers

Whenever I go to any store with my girls, it's inevitable that at least one person refers to them as my "little helpers". "Oh, I see you have some little helpers with you." "What good little helpers you have!" The girls are helpful. They help pick out the apples, they help put things in the cart, and they help unload the cart onto the conveyor belt (all of which would be accomplished faster if I just did it myself, but that's ok...).

Just so you know how helpful they can be....the following is my dialogue while we are at the grocery store:

"Stay with me...No, we can't get that cart; it's huge and obnoxious and I can barely push it...I guess someone else has the pink cart, maybe next time...No, we're not using a tiny kid's cart today, we have a lot of stuff to get......Please stay with me.....Yes, I see that, that's neat, isn't it.....No, we don't need that.......Please don't walk between me and the cart......Uh, ok, I'll hold you for a minute. Kinda hard to push the cart, too, but whatever......You want to get in the cart? Ok....What? A snack? Ok, we have some Cheerios...Yes that's the only snack I brought...Girls, you need to share...Stay with m- yes, I see Minnie..Yep, I see Mickey, too. Neat. Now, please stay with me......We already have some of those at home, we don't need to get any more.....Mm-hmm...What? Oh! I love you, too!......Yes, I see the blue ball... Come on... Ok, there's a water fountain over here...... No, I don't have any more snacks......Watch where you're going!..... Ok, you can pick the apples, I'll hold the bag... Yeah, I guess if you're good, you can have a cookie at the end before we leave...... Come on, let's go... Wait, stop. I need to look at this... I just need to look at it some more, be patient... It's ok, you're ok, she didn't mean to do that...I know it was an accident, but you still need to give her a hug and a kiss and say 'I'm sorry'....Good job.......We'll be done after we get a few more things we need...... You want out of the cart? Ok, but you need to stay with me... No, we don't need those... WHOA whoa whoa whoa whoa! Don't move! I'll take that from you- It's not a good idea to touch glass jars of maple syrup, ok?..... Yeah, you can get some goldfish, pick out one bag......You have to go the bathroom? We're on the other side of the store now! You can't hold it? Ok, let's go... Come on, let's go... Watch out! Stay with me... Yes, I see, that girl has a Mickey shirt on..Yep, that's a red Mickey shirt...... Let's go..... We've got to go now..... Stay with me..... We already have some at home... We're almost done, we just need some bread... Here, you can put the bread in the cart........ Hang on, I need to look at this... No! Watch out! -Sorry!- You almost hit that guy, don't push the cart by yourself.... Stay with me right here, I'm trying to figure out which one to get...... No, we're not getting that this time; it's not on sale... Come on, let's go check out... Oh yeah, the cookies. Let's go get them... Ok, NOW we're ready to check out...Come on, let's go, I want to get home..... Yeah, you can help...Here, you can put the bananas on there... Hi! Pretty good, and you?.... Yes, plastic's fine... Yes, I do have my little helpers with me..."

They are my little helpers. They help give me opportunities to exercise (my voice, that is). They help me practice patience. They help me learn how to multi-task.

I need a nap.