I hate putting laundry away. If I don't do it, it doesn't get done, just little piles of everyone's clothes scattered through the house, covering every available inch of floor space and table/countertops. Here's how it goes in my house. I do 12 loads of laundry. I fold everything neatly, organize it by person and then by type of clothing (pants, tshirts, work shorts, socks, underwear etc) to make it easy for everyone to put theirs away. 7 YO DD takes her piles, shoves it into whatever drawer is open at the time and calls it a day. All is well until she needs to get dressed the next day, at which point she takes everything out, throws it to the floor and spends the next four days walking over it until it ends up back in the laundry buckets, needing to have the footprints taken out of them. DH isn't much better. He gets up for work before Oh dark hundred and he hates to disturb me, so he thoughtfully gets dressed by the front door. Each night before bed, he takes an outfit for himself, places it on my dining room table and goes to bed. Great plan, except the clothes don't always make it onto his person or to work with him. Instead, they have a nice little vacation from his dresser or his closet, sunning themselves on my dining room table. When I hand him his piles, he puts his socks and underwear away and leaves the rest piled neatly on our bed, to be moved to the floor or a desk when he goes to sleep at night. Over time, his piles fall down, get foot prints and wind up back in my laundry pile, never having been worn.

I would rather have a double root canal (and I have to be sedated to get into the dentist's chair, nevermind have a proceedure done) than deal with laundry in this house!

I hate grocery shopping also, fo rmany of the same reasons. Although, our local store has a kids play area, where I can drop the oldest off. To bad the one that causes me the most headache can't go in there yet! :) My youngest always wants to walk (she's almost 2) and yet she doesn't understand that she has to old my hand or else she gets put in the car, about 1/2 way through the store I'm ready to leave without most of the stuff that I needed!
So Yes, I understand your need for grocery shopping alone!! :)

EsteeLynn here's my take, I actually wrote this a couple weeks back in your "Irrevocable Truths Take".......
1)Sibling Rivalry.... You would think with a 10 year span between the two they would get along. Think again. I took both of them with me food shopping once. I'm standing at the deli, ordering cold cuts and potato salad. I'm probably the fifth in line. My cart is parked near all the fruit and vegetable bins. The girls are standing guard for my pocketbook is sitting up front where in days past a small child once sat. I'm waiting patiently for my turn. Of course there's about 10 other people standing around as well. As I'm looking above to the over head, hand written, doodled Specials Board of all the deals of the day I hear from the rear, stop it!, No, you stop it! Put that back! No you can't have that. Yes I can! No, you can't. Leave me alone! You're such a brat! Then, I hear....tumbling...things are falling.... #98! Can I help who has #98! Yes! That's me! I'll have a pound of ....and a 2 lb container of.... In back of me the conversation continues....Now look what you've done! I didn't do anything, YOU pushed me! No I DID NOT! Pick them up! No, you pick them up.... agghhhh!!!!!!
As I slightly turn to my left and then to my right, don't dare to look behind me or even acknowledge my darling children, I notice that everybody is staring at MY CHILDREN!!! These two girls are soo absorbed in thier own little tiff, they don't even realize what an spectacle they've become....

Oh Estee....got to go...DD is home from school and requesting to use the computer! Something about homework! (another irrevocable truth) She needs to USE IT NOW!! I'll be back to finish up....till then, stop laughing at me! I know it's a leadership problem he he he... (as a friend of mine use to say)... He was a Naval Commander... now retired... I finish later...

Now I'm back...
They don't even realize the spectacle they've become, dont realize their MOUTHS are flapping and the volume is increasing. One is 19 years old for heavens sake! The other the smallest of 6 children who has had every whim of hers answered by five other siblings, either to shut her up or to actually comfort and nuture her through the younger years of her life. I'm totally beside myself, extemely embarassed and not quite willing to let all the other people know I'm THEIR mother. I turn around, there are potatoes and onions all over the floor. I give my quick wild eyed "I"M GOING TO KILL YOU" look and take my roastbeef and potato salad and start walking away....quickly.... Elizabeth knows...she knows, she has just gotten the look, the look that means she is in DEEP DOODOO. I walk away leaving my children to fit for themselves. As I leave I hear Liz say to Hannah, pick them up now, she'll leave ya here, and she'll leave me here with you!!! About five minutes later, they caught up with me in the freezer section. I'm looking at ice cream, the ice cream is on sale. The girls walk up, Liz a little more cautious than her younger sister. Hannah just doesn't get what just transpired. They see ice cream on sale and immediately they start stating which two flavors they want to get. They know I buy two when it is on sale. Elizabeth asks, What kind are you getting? I said, NOT TODAY, not this week either. You're out of Luck! I don't reward bad behavior. Hannah states, Great, Thanks Liz, Mom why did we have to bring her? I crouch, get eye level with my nine year old and said, Enough! Both of you are to blame. I don't want to hear one more word out of either one of you. Not now , not on the way home. When we get home, both of you are to bring in the groceries and put them away without one word spoken between you. If I hear ANY BICKERING at all Hannah it will cost you your allowance and Elizabeth it will cost you a night of babysitting for FREE!
Miracles do happen, quietest ride home I've had in a long time. Groceries were brought in, and actually put in their respectable places.
In truth I hate it when they are in Kahoots...I feel bad, they feel bad and it just dims the day. I really feel that they know this because they don't tend to argue in front of me anymore. I won't go as far as to say lesson learned....
....Actual true story of the last time I took my two daughters... I make sure I go by myself during the week...which means I have to load into and out of the truck, bring into the house and put them away by my lonesome ahhh.....
I walk in with the first batch, put on water to make a tea. Head back out and bring in the second bunch..put away any frozen items, head out for the third bunch, come in and finish putting away the grooceries, make my tea and relax.........the sound of quiet ahhhhhhh..........the taste of a good breakfast tea ahhhhhhhh.................

Hehehe, you crack me up. Love the AARP reference.

Grocery shopping for me is quite similar, only instead of three kids I have two - RJ, who's almost 8, and his father, who's almost 35. I beg them not to be bad but they are, every. single. time. One time I put Curtis in charge of the big cart and RJ had one of those "customer in training" carts. This was supposed to make it easier and faster for me, so I could walk ahead, pick things up and throw them in one of the two carts. Unfortunately that isn't always the case. As we were negotiating the milk/eggs/creamer area, where half a million people were apparently out of milk, Curtis and RJ decided to have a race down the aisle. All of a sudden I hear screeching (seriously, bet you didn't know you could screech the tires on a cart), crashing and huge amounts of laughter behind me. RJ was apparently winning the race and dad, being the fair man he is, rammed RJ's little guy cart with his big guy cart, which sent the little guy cart careening off to the left, narrowly missing several adults trying to decide if this was the week they'd switch from 2% to 1%. The little guy cart tipped over, spilling all of RJ's contents, including that yummy, still warm bread, all over the aisle. RJ, not missing a beat, started shaking Curtis' cart trying to knock IT over too. It's really rather embarrassing having to have "a talk" with an adult and a child while picking up condiments, canned goods and a variety of cheeses in the middle of a packed grocery store. What kills me is the number of people laughing over this mess. I guess I was the only one not in on the joke.

suicidal eggs are the worst.
Gold star for you for actually MAKING it TO the grocery store - let alone making it home in once piece.

Lol - Sorry Sweetie - I don't mean to laugh! But I so remember those days! So much that I would avoid going to the store at all costs. I actually used to go once a month, I'd fill two sometimes three baskets and it ususally took 3 or 4 baskets to get me to the car. I'd fill one up and park it by the customer service desk and then fill another and so on. So when I'd go, I would make sure I had help at home to get the stuff in and put away. Then short stops for milk, bread and to the fruit stand for fruit and veggies.

Now I go once a week and I still make sure I have someone who can help me get it in and put away. If I go during the day, I have them bag the cold stuff separately and leave the rest in the car for them to bring in. I figure they eat, so they can earn their keep.

I dread taking DD#3 (20 years old) to the store with me. She is the junk food queen! She adds at least $30 to the bill. The kid loves spaghettios with meatballs, "elmer fudd cookies" (E.L. Fudge) along with a host of other "goodies".

LOL, I'm sorry, ladies, but all I can do is laugh! I have no idea how I am so fortunate to have no shopping horror stories to share. I have 3 sons, 17 months between 1 and 2, 25 months between 2 and 3, and both their dad and their stepdad would count as an additional child on any given day. BUT I somehow managed to end up with 3 boys plus one who would behave so well in the store! People actually would compliment me each shopping trip on how well they behaved! All I could say was "who? them??? Wow, who are those people, and what have they done with my real family?"! So, while I cannot contribute a story of my own, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading yours!

Ok Estee...our grocery stores here have kid play areas where we drop them off, receive a beeper and then shop away without any distractions....maybe you have one of those nearby? It certainly would be such a great help to you. The places here you have to be 3 and potty trained...I can't tell you how much I avoid taking my 3 kids to the store at the same time.

Ahhh the grocery store Olympics! You missed a part. Or Paizlee hasn't figured it out yet. Brandon's favorite sport, besides chewing on everything in the basket like Paizlee is to see how many people he can hit with the stuff he throws OUT OF THE BASKET. It's quite difficult to keep a straight face while explaining to the man who was assulted by a can of asparagus (not artichoke hearts ICK!) to the back of the leg that your son was the one who threw it. Yes I know, he's only 1 year old but he's a mini-version of He Man from the cartoon. (Don't try to pretend you aren't old enough to know who He-Man is!) Then I have to retrieve the items that he threw on the floor and hope they aren't broken. If they are broken I feel obligated to buy them PLUS the replacement item. While I'm getting the items off of the floor my 6 year old wanders off to have conversations with strangers about how I'm counting the days until she and her Daddy leave. The woman she's talking to is now giving me the evil eye. Great! Everything I mention on the phone is repeated, out of context! What I had said was I was counting the days until she and her Daddy go on their vacation to watch a NASCAR race in Talladega in a few weekends, and leave me with the two QUIET little ones. Ugh!

I have enjoyed reading not only your blog but the responses! I am a full time care provider for my mom and have no children of my own, just two toy Rat Terrier dogs and they aren't allowed in grocery stores.

I still do not like to go grocery shopping and I'm not sure why. Once in the store, I'm okay but then when I get home and have to unload then it gets tiresome again. We recently had a ramp put on the front of the house for my mom and her wheelchair, so that makes it a bit easier. I load the groceries in the rolling grocery cart that I used when I lived alone and could walk to the grocery store.

I fill it up and roll up the ramp and in the front door. Then my Mom and the two dogs want to help put things up but I really prefer doing it myself. I can do it faster and the dogs don't have opposable thumbs so they can't control those suicidal eggs!! LOL

Thanks for making me laugh today, I needed it!!

Aloha,
Cheryl Wordweaver

I don't have an errand horror story, but living in the city, I LOVE PEAPOD! I'm waiting for them right now....someone else can carry my laundry detergent, cat food, cat litter, and all of the other stuff up 3 flights of stairs!

LOL! Oh boy - this is one subject I can really, really identify with! I have one word for you....Super WalMart (or as I refer to it....Retail Hell).

My daughter, Heather, and her two boys live with my husband and I. The boys are 7 and 19 months old. Taking them anywhere is an "adventure" - to Super WalMart - well, that borders on a nightmare. The oldest, Joey, earns an allowance that he NEEDS to purchase a toy with. And then there's Anthony Robert, who has proven that the human voice can reach levels once thought to be only achieved by weather warning sirens. Heather and I try really hard to make the experience as quick and painless as possible so we split our list in half. One goes to the pharmacy/clothing/toy area and the other to the grocery section. (Honestly, the concept of being able to buy groceries, a birthday present for this week's party, new underwear and pick up your prescriptions is brilliant. Heck! There's even a McDonald's in there so you can pick up a Happy Meal for dinner.)

I usually let her go to the grocery section with the baby while Joey, the oldest, & I go to the pharmacy, grab my hair color - gotta get rid of the grey this venture is going to give me and other toiletries. Once everything on our list is in the basket, we head to the toy department. This is where Joseph must pick up and examine EACH and EVERY item they offer. This goes on indefinately. While we going through this excruciating exercise, my daughter calls me on my cell repeatedly.... about which cereal is on sale, do we need bread, how many bag of chips, etc., etc., etc. while Anthony wails in the background (although the cell phone isn't really necessary to hear the little darlin').

Joey will literally pick out, and then change his mind ten or twelve times before he finally finds the toy of his dreams. Yeah! We're done with that department.

Oh my! Look at that - the toys are right next to the craft area. Shoot! Let's just let grandma take a little, teeny, tiny peek at the scrapbook area. Yikes! There just went 50 bucks! Then I get another call from my daughter who's not finished yet....so let's throw in just a couple more things I might need when I do my scrapbooking later.

I finally get a call from Heather that's she's ready to check out. Now we use our cell phones to locate each other. Once we find each other, we head to the front of the store and fight little old ladies for a spot in line.

By now, my daughter's almost in tears, along with the baby, as we stand in the checkout line behind fourteen people who've never operated a credit card machine before or have their checkbook at the very, very bottom of their purse. And, just our luck, we got that super curious checker who examines each item as she scans it as if she's never seen such a thing before. Three hours later as we drive home, we actually brag to each other about how great we are at crunching time frames by doing all our shopping in one place!

Shoot.....we forgot wrapping paper for that birthday present! ;0)

I've found the secret to nice, quiet trips to the grocery store. I don't know if anyone else's have these....our Wal Marts have them too...those little grocery cart things that look like little cars and they have a little tv screen in them and the kids can watch Bob the Builder, Barney, Dora, The Wiggles, ect....If I put Mikey in there with his juice cup, maybe a snack...it is THE most enjoyable trip EVER!! I always make sure we have a dollar to get one of those things every time we need to shop! :)

i just love your blogs i remember the days of having 2 older ones fighting over the cereal selection of the week and the youngest taking notes how maybe to get her way !but my biggest came about 2 years aga when i had the misfortune of being in line with a very angry costumer. for some reason she was arguing with the cashier over her coupons and felt that there was items she got overcharged on. now this lady was not going to return the goceries to the shelfs oh no she was gonna fling them back!it was like "yea here i will put this back" and she thru it and the store was packed at the time! i could hear my dh yelling "incoming" "duck" just like pearl harbor i almost got hit with a can of cream corn i swear i hate that stuff the poor little cahier broke right down and cried the manager had to call the cops to get that nut out of there also the manager was running around trying to prevent a humongus food fight the crowd was getting ugly! i think one lady might got hit with a can of tuna or tomato soup! all i can say i was glad my dh was there being a gentlemen he jumped in front of me so i didnt get hit with mustard ! and thank heavens it was a plastic bottle they eventually took the lady to jail for insighting a riot lol
karen

Oh how this made me laugh! I can just see your kids doing all those things! Rachel Ray uses artichoke hearts, how hilarious!!!! Anyway, I don't like grocery shopping for the opposite reasons as you. First of all, we work all day, so we end up shopping at 4:30 or 5. Right when everyone else does apparantly. Also, we don't have children. So it seems karma feels the need to "pick on us". Every time we go to the grocery store, not only is it busy as heck, it's busy as heck with people with lots of kids. And, I swear, the people here have no control over their children! LOL! Sometimes I feel I'm going through an obstacle course, tripping over kids in the aisles, manuevering around people's carts, and trying to avoid bumping food displays etc.! I figure one of these days, I will have children, and then it will be me in the store with no control, and everyone else can run the obstacle course! LOL!

I absolutely hate grocery shopping. Everytime I need to go, I beg my husband to go with me. I guess I think it will be more fun???!!!! Well, anyways, he usually tells me NO!!!! and to go by myself. So I usually say, I guess we won't eat for the next couple of days. LOL Somehow the idea of no food will sometimes convince him to take me. Last time we went to the store, he initiated the trip. IMAGINE THAT!!!! I just couldn't believe it. I can't stand bearing the time in line waiting let alone trying to remember everything I need. Usually by the end of the trip, I have to run back in because I forgot something major like MILK!

i aggree on the suicidal nothing like taking in the eggs that yucky inside the carton lol i hate scrambled eggs in the bag lol!! my thing is when i am bringing in the bags and i have glass jar inside of one of the bags and with my hands loaded and trying to get the keys to unlock the door and the bag with the glass jar goes crashing to the ground and you just know that,that jar has just busted all over everything in that bag.. i have no clue what is like to shop with kids because i don`t have any but i hear horror stories all the time and working at walmart i see these women come in and i am like better you than me lol... don`t get me wrong i love kids and would have a house full if i could have... but in a way i am kind of glad i don`t because i would have them so rotten and i would be ready to put them up for adoption lol.. see i have nieces and nepews i spoiled them while they was growing up and i sent them home now i have 4 lovely great nieces the oldest is almost 16 years old and the youngest is a year and half old so longs as i can send them home after spoiling them is fine by me because mommy and daddy can put up with them after aunt sheila gives them candy pop and all that good stuff!!!! lol and i am with you in the summer time part of the someone driving it home and putting it up lol.. now in the winter time when hubby is home its not to bad because he carries it all in :D and when we go to the store i make him take me out to eat because by the time we get home to fix dinner it would be late so we go to eat somewhere!! ok i think i have written enough here so have a great week!

MEMORIES! Working as a Courtesy Clerk almost ruined me for Motherhood! Had two little boys actually climbing onto checkstand while yelling, Mother said/did nothing whole time. As I pushed them out,they suddenly froze & were silent from the store door to car. Why? As soon as we got to the car, Mom spanked them but good. I was only 16 at time, but I wanted so bad to say "Spank them IN THE STORE just ONE TIME, Lady..."
Fast forward to when I had toddler age children. Friend of mine w/ 2 toddlers also, had one get loose from her hand in store parking lot & run from her. When she captured her, she spanked her & lectured her. They drove home, 20 mins later, doorbell rang. As all her neighbors are coming home from work, there's a Policeman at her door. As her girls are raucousing in background, he informs her that her lic # was given in a complaint of child abuse. As he's speaking, one runs into & squeezes by Mom through doorway, out into yard. She said the Policeman stopped in the middle of his 3rd sentence, smiled & told her to have a nice evening!
My DD threw her plastic bottle out of cart one time so hard it busted to pieces w/ milk all over. A Clerk recounted the incident EVERYTIME we had the misfortune of seeing her there. When DD was 8, she told me to tell the Lady to quit bringing it up.
Cutest thing that happened on a grocery shopping w/ my 2 (17 months apart): Does anyone remember the TV movie 'The Ewoks' that came out after 1st Star Wars? (Now that's dating me! LOL) My little Son,not having a huge vocab or clear proun yet was trying to tell me something. He even showed frustration when I repeatedly couldn't decipher what he was saying, to point that, finally, he said "FOO-DA, FOO-DA,EAT EAT!", a line in the movie. He said it very clear & I finally understood that he was hungry!
As a Grocery Checker for 30 years now, I've seen lots. My store actually banned having the children's mini carts. I saw a Kid FLY out of an aisle into front lobby one time BACKWARDS!!
I became Friends w/ Mom of 3 small boys after mine were in JrH. I met up w/ her grocery shopping one time. We stood off to side & talked 35 mins. Her 3 little Boys stood there, barely moved & said nothing the whole time! Wow, was I impressed! A couple years later, I was over helping her remove wallpaper/paint house they had just bought. Her youngest was given a time out face against wall in one hallway. 40 mins later, I needed more paint. He was STILL face against wall. I debated whether to say something. Finally, I carefully said to my Friend, "I don't mean to pry, but, how long are your time outs?" She had forgotten all about him/felt so bad/apologized to him. Who's next?

I live in South Korea at the moment, and girl let me tell you, I would go for any of the grocery shopping nightmares right now. I miss the 24hr Walmarts where I go either take my reluctant husband to go "window shopping" at 3am or my sister would go with me also at a late hour just to check out the clearance sections of Wally world or Tarjay! I miss the fact that there are so many food varieties and the the eggs actually look clean, when you buy them from the grocery store and not just "freshly picked from the hens nest? " -if you catch my drift. I miss having a car to pack my 10 or 12 heaping bags of groceries and having to lug them just a few steps to my then apt. Where as here, I can only manage to carry 8 heavy grocery bags 4 blocks down the way and up 5 FLIGHTS OF STAIRS! (no joke.)
Anyone wanna trade places?
Oh not only that, my apt here in Korea is not equipped with an oven(apperantly, mine isn't the only one)I just miss that lovely cooking option!!!!!!!

I must say that I have Breuklyn's attitude towards grocery shopping...how much more fun could anything be!! There are a gazillion things in that grocery store that I have never heard of!

What's worse, my partner and I have been known to drive over two hours to go to a new grocery store that we don't have in our area just to see the new and different things they have.

Then again, I don't have kids to corral...maybe I won't enjoy it as much then!

I am laughing b/c I always try to get dh to go with me, why I am not sure! every time I guilt him into coming it turns into more of a disaster than normal. he gets mad b/c he is on a diet and can't have EVERYTHING in the frozen food aisle, he gets crabby about all the other people, and it always seems like the bill is $20 or $30 more than normal! Sometimes I dream of taking kids instead of him, then again maybe not!

oh boy,that brings back memories,i remember when i would have to go all the time by myself,not because hubby dear,didn;t want to go but he worked long hours and shift work at that,he was a supervisior in a plastic plant.

welli had four children to take with me all alone,three girls and one boy,you had to have eyes in the back of your head. my son would throw corn curls in the cart first then the girls always wanted ice cream, they didn;t understand why that was the last on the list and what i hated were the way people would look at me ,i would hear some of them say as if i could not,she;s awfully young for all those kids,what are they a year apart or boy she must of been busy all winter. then the people who hit you in the back or the bottom of your heel specialy if i was getting eggs and almost drop them,yuk,then you get the cashier looking at you like you have two heads or something ,mostly because i would say i don;t want this,it has to go back because the children would put all junk food in while i wasn;t looking. the worst part is i didn;t drive ,yes i was one of those lady;s with the shopping cart,you know the kind you pulled. after we were married i told my hubby i am retiring and getting a job for awhile before i go insane. so to this day he does all the shopping for me, sometimes i go if there is something i need or want for myself.i used to get so sick in the store and would have a headache . now i go when i want, and stay home and play all day in my scraproom. children are great,but now that their are just grandchildren,and i don;t have to take children shopping or myself,i am living life.so to you all i say.your time will come when you don;t have to worry about the kiddies. BUT OH BOY WILL YOU MISS THEM. have a nice night laddies, and just relax you day will come. god bless you all.

Special Mommy Discount: Last week my 13-month-old son chewed through the end of a banana before I realized it and ate a part of it. When I checked out, the cashier took one look at it and said she wouldn't charge me for it. I protested that that damage had been done by my son, but still got the remains of the banana for free!

Estee, I feel for you. I only have one child to juggle on these grocery store errands, so I haven't clue! And, yes those suicidal eggs are for sure the worst;(

My heart goes out to you! I had a 3-yr.old daughter, Jessica that was playing with my brother, her Uncle Scott, when he put his hands above his head, she pointed to his armpit and said "What is that?" He told her "Hairy Armpit". Fast forward a couple of weeks later. We're shopping at Wal-mart. She sees an older lady standing there, she asks sweetly "Is your name Grandma?" The lady just smiles sweetly and says "Yes, I'm a Grandma, and aren't you a cutie!". Jessica asks in all the innocence a 3 yr. old can muster--"You got hairy armpits?!" The lady looked to me "What did she say?" Me: "I don't know I didn't catch it!" (I could have died!!!)

Oh man ladies, I have *loved* reading your grocery store stories!!! Our winner for the week is mstooke!! PM me with your address and I will get your RAK out to you!! :)