Be Patient or You Can't Taste the Rainbow

I got up this morning to see the kids standing in the kitchen, staring into the refrigerator. "There's nothing to eat, Mom! We're huuuungry!"

I looked in the fridge. It was far from empty. In fact, it was filled with containers of leftovers. Leftovers that none of us wanted to eat. sigh I just can't get used to cooking for the 7 of us. I still make tons extra and more often than not, it ends up being wasted which bugs me.

"There's no food in the house!" the kids continued to whine.

"Didn't I just feed you guys yesterday?" Apparently they like to eat every day, multiple times even.

Fine. I'll go to the grocery store this afternoon," I said, dreading the trip because I knew the little kids would insist on going with me. They live to go places with me and do embarrassing things give me blog material. And then there was the fact that I know I'll just have to repeat the expedition again in a couple days because food doesn't last long around here.

The three youngest went with me. They seem to think that if they go along, I'll buy them candy for being good. They got this idea because I pretty much always buy them candy for being good. Hey, I'm not above a little bribery! Think about it - the cost of a bag of M&Ms versus the cost of being kicked out and banned from yet another store. Yeah, that's what I thought.

So, we shopped. Clay and Lex helped me by throwing things like cans of tomatoes on top of the bread in the cart. They also helped by making sure I'd picked up the cereal with the highest sugar content and the least nutritional value. I didn't care. As long as they didn't touch the bottle of rum I put in the cart, I was good.

So, onto the check-outs. The kids were great, so I let them each get a little bag of Skittles because, according to Brooklyn, they wanted to taste the rainbow. The store I went to, just sorta throws all the groceries into the cart as they ring them up and then you have to bag them yourself. So, as I was paying for my purchases, Clay and Lex were digging through the groceries, trying to find the Skittles. They found two packages and pulled them out only dumping half a dozen other items on the floor. The third package, deemed Brooklyn's candy, was stuck. Judging by the way they were digging for it, the survival of the entire universe depended on their ability to retrieve this last package immediately!

"Guys! Hold your butts on! I'll find the Skittles when I pack up the groceries. Patience!" I admonished.

I started piling the groceries into my reusable bags, but turned at the sound that only a whole bag of Skittles skittering across the grocery store floor can make. Do you know that sound? The kids were quick to clean them up until I saw they were putting them in their mouths! Ugh.

"Why couldn't you have been patient? You couldn't wait for me to get them, so you yanked them out of the cart, tearing the bag and now you don't have any."

Brooklyn started wailing that Clay and Lex had spilled all her Skittles while trying to get them for her.

"Can we get another package, Mom?"

"Nope," I answered. "I know that being patient sucks. Believe me, I know firsthand. I hate waiting for what I want. Hate it passionately! When I want something, I want it yesterday now! But if I have to learn patience, then so do you!"

I continued packing up the groceries while Lex and Clay picked the rest of the Skittles up off the floor. Then they shared the remaining two packages with Brooklyn. Everyone had enough of the rainbow, everyone was content, it all worked out. Maybe the next time they'll be a little more patient. Oh who am I kidding? I'm thirty-ten and I still haven't figured that one out! Maybe I'll just let them eat them off the floor the next time.

Photo from Special's Flickrstream