McDonalds, Target and Discovery Place, Oh My! Continued...

They don't build shopping carts for our family. Target has one that has two seats with buckles and I can put Zadie in the grocery part of the basket. But where do you put everything else? I need to invent a little tow behind trailer that can hook to my belt. But I digress ...

We went to Target to buy 6 items:

• Pajamas and Chocolate as a present for Julie
• A card to Julie, from me
• Glue Sticks for the kids to make their Valentines to Julie
• Diapers
• Wine

Simple enough, right? We started smooth. We headed to the Woman's department to look for Pajamas. As we approached the section, Zachary told me that we should ask Zoe about "what Momma likes and what her size is because she is a girl." He also told Zoe while we were looking that "when you get older, you are going to spend a LOT of time in this section." It is good to know that Zach is already well schooled in gender stereotypes. The pickings were slim, but we found a cute set and headed for the Valentines Day section.

Now this is where the Target Store Designers make their money. To get from Woman's intimates (A Valentines Day staple), where the pajamas are, to the heart shaped chocolate (another Valentines Day staple), you must go through the gauntlet known as the Toy department.

Julie and I have always done a good job of not purchasing toys on the spot for the kids, so that was not my concern. The Toy department does seem to be a sort of time warp. You enter intending to only spend a few minutes looking around and you emerge an hour later, exhausted, disheveled and wondering if you blacked out for a little while.

To my surprise we made it through the candy aisle with little to no problems. I retrieved the wine and diapers without incident and we headed over to school supplies. I found the glue sticks and as I was deciding 2-pack or 6-pack, name brand or Target brand, I heard a crash. I looked to the end of the aisle to see the twins standing amidst a pool of sparkly green water and a slew of broken glass. You see, the twins had never seen the inside of a St. Patrick's Day snow globe and thought that there must be a first time for everything.

My first thought, who buys a St. Patrick's Day snow globe? Second thought, who at Target thought it was a good idea to put them on a low shelf? Third thought, I am going to own a broken St. Patrick's Day snow globe (see first thought). Fourth thought, why wasn't I watching my kids? (The world would probably be a better place if we had the fourth thought first, rather than looking for someone else to blame.)

I run over to make sure that they do not move or try to pick anything up. Zach immediately starts to look for a worker to tell what happened, because that is what first born, type-A's do. Zane is repeating just one word, "Happen"? That is Zane's way of asking "What Happened". I wanted to say, you tell me, you are the one with a broken snow globe base in your hands and green sparkles in your socks. Zoe ... is crying. No scream this time, but she is awfully upset that her pants are wet. That of course was my number one concern also.

Meanwhile Zach returns with a worker who looks all too happy to have to clean up the glittering mess. I offer to pay for the broken piece, he of course tells me not worry about it. So I collect my kids and slowly but with increasing speed head toward the check-out, snagging a greeting card for Julie on the way.

It is 11:30am at this point and a quirky law in North Carolina says that you can not buy alcohol before Noon on Sunday. I always forget that, but no big deal I would get it later. It was the question from the cashier was what left me with a blank stare. She asked, "Do you want to go do something for a half hour and come back to get it?" ... Speechless ...

To be concluded ...