One of the worst things about having two children

is having to take both of them shopping. Grocery shopping is at a new level of difficulty. I usually have a long list, as I plan meals every week and shop according to my meal plan. Therefore, every week is different things on the list, and so it takes longer than some people. Plus, I am a very slow shopper and decision maker. It takes me a little bit to decide between brands, or to check the sugar content on things, or figure out how many onions I will need for the week. Often times, when I have both kids with me, I end up leaving earlier than planned with not all of my list checked off. Which I hate. And then I have to go back a second time to get the rest of the stuff.

But that's not the worst. I can handle them at the store - Eva can be calmed down by opening up a bag of crackers or dried fruit - okay, sometimes candy - and she'll sit nicely in the cart and eat it. For a while. And Leighton can usually be soothed with a bottle or a pacifier.

One main issue right now is space. Leighton is still in his infant seat. I am planning on switching him soon to just putting him straight into the seat of the cart without bringing in his carseat since he's sitting up now. We haven't gotten there yet, though. So I put him in his seat in the basket of the cart. Because I'm sure you all remember that time when Eva, snapped into the cart, completely flipped out upside down and almost killed both of us from fright. So I don't put the cart up high. Which means Eva goes in the front seat, and Leighton goes in the basket. Leaving me approximately 3 square inches to put a whole week's worth of groceries in.

Yesterday I had filled the entire bottom of the cart (you know, by the floor between the wheels) and all the space on the sides of the cart and in front of Leighton's feet. I actually had to stack a few things ON TOP OF HIM. A bag of spinach. On his legs. That can't look right. One time I had to do the 2-cart thing. A total and complete circus. I've never worked up a sweat like that in a grocery store before, and I don't ever want to do it again.

But the point of this post is to tell you how shopping with two children makes me brain-dead. Every SINGLE time I have walked out of Target since having two children, I get to the car and find something in the bottom of the basket, usually hidden by the monstrous carseat, that I didn't pay for. Sometimes I have both children loaded in the car before I see it. So I get them out of the car, put them back in the stupid cart, and haul everything back into the store to pay for my inadvertently stolen items.

I did it this morning. There were a few placemats (which, by the way, might be the cutest things I have ever bought...they have owls and trees and birds...they are adorable) stuck on the side of the cart. They are mostly clear plastic and blended in with the cart. I cursed myself and went back inside to pay. At times like that, I wish my parents hadn't ever mentioned the importance of honesty. I wish I could just say, "Oh well," and put them in the car anyway, and drive peacefully home without making a second trip back into the store to stand in line. Actually, what I really wish is that I would find my brain somewhere and stop doing it altogether. What a pain.