My husband usually does the big grocery store haul on Saturdays…a chore that fell on him during the pandemic and one I’m grateful he still takes on. Since he is away, we woke up early on Sunday only to remember that it was Daylight Savings…it was no longer early. The girls and I had made a plan to get up and head straight to the grocery store…all of us.

When we arrived, Rose volunteered to get the shopping cart. “The small one?” she asked, heading right over to the smaller carts. These are the carts we usually get when we’re running in for a few items.

“We need a big one today,” I reminded her. We were doing all the shopping.

Rose attempted to pull free one of the larger carts, but they were stuck. When I offered her a hand, she let me know that she’d be just fine navigating the cart on her own. We negotiated. “I might need to keep my hand on the front of the cart,” I told her. “This is a big cart and the store is busy. We don’t want to bump into anyone.” She looked annoyed but didn’t protest my hand on the cart. She’s five and can barely see over the cart. She also can have big emotions. I was treading lightly.

As we entered the store, I must have let go of the cart without realizing it. The next thing I saw was Rose about to crash straight into her biggest sister, Wren. I used my hand to stop the cart. “Whoa. We can’t crash into people,” I said.

“I needed her to move,” Rose said unapologetically.

We moved on…with guidance.

Wren requested to be able to go grab something from our list a few feet away. I let her go. No sooner had she stepped away than Adi chimed in. “Now Wren can just go all over the store all by herself?” She was obviously peeved.

We moved on. I kept my eye on the cart and the list, making sure we got everything we needed and wouldn’t need to circle back at all. There was tension between Wren and Rose. Wren was obviously annoyed by Rose’s cart pushing and was making snide comments under her breath. By the time we had finished up in the produce section, I knew I was losing them. “Are we done now?” Adi asked. “The cart is already full.”

“We need to get everything on the list,” I reminded them.

Somewhere in the middle of the store, I stopped in an empty aisle to double-check the list again-all while listening to stories from school, complaints about one sister or another, and requests to buy things. “Can everyone just be quiet for a few minutes?” I asked, needing a moment to think without distraction.

That lasted all of three seconds before the banter began again.

“We just need eggs,”I announced, ready to move on.

In the pasta aisle, Wren said, “I know we made a plan for dinner this week…but can you make lasagna?” I stopped, mid aisle and glared at her. I took a deep breath and replied, “Maybe on the weekend.”

When we were ready to check out, there were many questions about why we weren’t using the self checkout late, like we usually do. “We have too many items today,” I replied as I began moving things onto the belt. “Don’t touch anything,” I said to Adi as she began to touch the candy lining the checkout lane. “You guys can help put things on the belt,” I said as I tried to move as quickly as I could.

“You told me not to touch anything,” Adi said cooly as she continued to eye the candy.

At the same time, I saw Rose attempting to lift the eggs out of the cart with just one hand, already a little off balance.

“I’ll take those,” I said as I smiled at the cashier who didn’t seem entertained by our shenanigans.

No sooner did we get everything on the conveyer belt than I noticed the backup of items in the bagging area. There was no one to help with bagging. I rearranged the girls and the cart so I could get to the bagging area. Rose joined me, plopping random items into our reusable bags, no thought to what they were or maximizing space. As I bagged, I tuned back into the constant chatter coming from the three girls. “Do you think you guys can just be quiet for a few minutes?” I asked again.

Adi stood looking at the checkout screen. “We’re already up to $175!” she exclaimed and then proceeded to announce the new price with every item that was scanned. I felt the eyes of all the other people checking out on us and their minds wondering why I had brought all these kids with me to the grocery store.

Finally, we were checked out, and our bags, messy as they were, were packed and ready to go. As we walked back to the car, I made a mental note to let Arnauld know how grateful I am that he does the extensive shopping each week.