Parenting in the Aisles

Today's grocery story actually took place at Wal Mart. It was back before it was a Super Wal Mart. One chilly November afternoon my daughter and I picked my sons Mark and Ryan up from school. Annie was probably about two, Mark was eight or nine years old. Ryan was six. I seem to remember Ryan's age well. You will understand in a moment. We were shopping in the girls department for a gift for a little girl we knew. Ryan was 'driving' the cart that day. Annie was perched happily in the front seat, playing with a small toy. Mark was just being Mark, climbing in and out of the middle of the racks of clothing. I stepped away from the cart to look at a Christmas dress that I was contemplating purchasing. Ryan and Annie were on the other side of the rack, Ryan, bored, leaning on the handle, Annie still playing contentedly with the little doll she had. Now this is where the fun begins. In all my life I have never called any of my children and had them immediately comply with my wishes. They most always comply, but generally not in an immediate fashion. I called to Ryan and told him to drive Annie over to me. I am not sure if it was due to Ryan's state of "boredness", or the fact that he just felt like being super obedient that day, but the following seconds are forever seared into my brain. Ryan immediately took the cart in hand and proceeded to whip it around the rack. As he made the turn the cart leaned on two wheels and then subsequently tipped over. In the space of a few seconds the cart was overturned, Annie was buried in a pile of items screaming her head off. Ryan immediately burst into tears.  Mark emerges from within a cloths rack and makes a bee line to the accident scene. His concern for his sister spewing from him in a very loud voice. "Ryan! Look what you did! You could of killed Annie!" (I think boys between the ages of 8-11 have no volume control. I have 5 sons. They have all proven this theory over and over again.) The lady behind the nearby jewelry counter leaps the counter and comes running to the scene. Here I stood in the middle of a pile of merchandise with three screaming children and one freaking out Wal Mart employee. It was one of those moments you want to cherish forever.......not really. After assuring the employee that everyone was fine and righting the cart. I took my three upset children and raced for the nearby shoe aisles. It was the only thing I could think of that might muffle the tears and upset of my children. Once in the shoe aisles I held Annie on my lap, reassured Ryan that there was no permanent damage done to his sister, and reminded Mark that it was my job to handle discipline, not his.
I am absolutely sure God was with me that day. First in the fact that neither Annie or Ryan got hurt when the cart overturned and second in that I somehow kept my cool in the midst of total chaos. The kids and I spent several minutes in between the rows of shoes, composing ourselves before returning to shopping. It was just before I walked out of the shoe department that I realized great compassion for my mother in law. You see, my husband Leo, did the same thing to his little brother Robert when he was a little kid. It must run in the family. I couldn't help but laugh.

It's about fifteen years later now and it is one of the funniest stories that we still reminisce about every year around this time. I'm even smiling as I type this. It truly is funny. God may have spared my children great injury that day, but we were also gifted with a memory that will make us laugh for years to come!
Be encouraged as you go out into the world with your children. We all have our moments. Our kids just help make more of them.
God's Peace to you....in aisles!