Well, it was bound to happen. With the long drive, lack of sleep, excitement, etc, this was a day for some meltdowns. When Grady gets tired and cranky, it comes out as "DON'T HELP ME" and frustration. For Peter, it comes out a constantly changing his mind, can't decide on stuff and just everything is wrong.
In trying to ease the boys into the vacation, knowing that they wouldn't get to sleep very well last night, we just planned today as a slow day. No real plans to do something big, but we'd go check out some stores and get some of the stuff we had been needing.
The boys had their money all saved up and were excited to go to the LEGO store and the Build-A-Bear workshop. It's so tough to let them shop because everything they decide they want right at the store is stuff that they'll play with once and then put aside. Peter has said recently "I only like to play with new toys". I can understand, but when he wants to buy another foam sword, even after he already has three, I was getting a little frustrated. Both boys ended up buying a LEGO keychain each from the LEGO store.
Build-A-Bear was harder. The line is so frustratingly slow. We got to the front of the line the first time and the girl told us we still hadn't completed one step before we could get the bears stuffed. On the next time through the line, Peter decided he didn't really want something from the store. But then after still waiting for Grady to get through the line, he had a meltdown that I wouldn't take him to Target today so he could spend his money there instead. He calmed down and then insisted he really did want a bear, so we had to stand in the line again.
All in all, I think I have to go back to my previous shopping rules for the boys: they have to have a solid idea of what they plan to buy before I take them to the store. And they have to want "that thing" for a couple days/weeks before I actually take them and let them buy it. And the other rule: When I need to shop for stuff on my own list, I just have to go by myself. It's a lot less stressful for everyone.
On a good note, the boys were excited to get cycling gloves today. We stopped at Performance and they really liked the style. They rode their bikes later today and said how comfortable the gloves were. We were also looking for a new bike saddle for Peter, but Performance doesn't carry those. Oh well, a couple more days of looking for the things on my list. It's almost sad when going to San Jose is our "big city" trip where we get all the things we can't find at home. I feel like a homesteader of old, stocking up on my yearly trip to town.
No comments:
Post a Comment