Shopping!

I will be going out into the world today by MYSELF!
whoo hoo!
My kids are to the age where they would probably be more fun for me if they were girls (tho I'm happy they are boys) because they've lost their tolerance for shopping.
When they were wee, I could just ply them with candy, pop them in the stroller and we were off but now it doesn't matter how much I bribe them with, they last about 20m.
Now, don't get me wrong, they are well behaved, but they do this subconscious thing where they turn into zombies. They stand about 6 inches away from me. When I take a step, they take a step, when I look up, they look up, when I turn, they turn.

It's very annoying.

When they come out of their zombified stooper, they whine things like
"where are we going next?"
"and then where?"
"When will we be done?"
" can we go to EB, Babbages, ToysRus?"

Now, before I had kids, my genius plan was that I would always take the kids to the toy store FIRST, that way I'd avoid the constant "when are we going to the toy store?" question. What I did not anticipate tho was MY limited amount of energy and their patience taking a nose dive after they've got what they wanted.
So today, I leave the 9 year old and the 12 year old with my mother and I venture out into the land of clearance brasseries without shame or whining.

I can even stop and eat something without it costing $27.00.