Adventures at Aldi's

we generally get our groceries from our local aldi's. they have cheap prices without the need for coupons, and it is a smaller store so the whole fiasco typically does not last super long. thank you jesus. my grocery bill is not outlandish, neither is the frequency of which i get groceries. the only real problem is that every time i go there is such trouble with my boys. aldi's does not bring out the best in these kids of mine. for one thing, the employees shoot your groceries down the belt to the cash register so quickly that i can only focus on unloading the items and not on corralling my kids. typically, once i have a small majority of groceries unloaded maxer informs me that "poop is coming". crap, literally. so then i shove the groceries back into the cart, apologize to the patrons waiting not so patiently behind me and rush to the bathroom that has a noisy hand dryer that scares my boys so the lose their minds even more.

now i am sweating, a lot, and my bread is being squished by the apple juice, no one will get back in the cart, and i have to unload all over again. today, during the second attempt to pay for the groceries and get the heck out of the store, bear managed to open the kit kat he found, conveniently, right by the check outs. the cashier is laughing at how adorable he is licking his lips and tossing away the wrapper so he can get at the kit kat. i am frantically trying to add up the groceries and make comments not involving swearing at the kids.

at the end of it all, i had to put back the milky ways and apple juice (aldi's does not take credit cards and i ran out of cash), abandon the cashier to chase the boys down who ran outside while i was choosing the groceries to leave behind, smile sweetly at the people behind me who were talking about the amount of "spit and vinegar" in my children, and strap the boys in the carseats while thanking the lord that we made it out of there with food for the week and both kids.

nothing extraordinary in this trip to aldi's, in fact it is par for the course of our grocery shopping escapades. however, recollecting all the efforts and emotions that go into our weekly stash of food makes me really appreciate being home again.