The House- Store

The kids were getting restless. It's too hot to go outside and they are only allowed to play in water (or even touch the nozzle) if I'm close by and give permission... granted that's the rule but it actually happening is another story (except for when I'm ahead of them and shut off all of the water). I love to play outside but am currently spending all outside time feeding the bugs that consider me their all you can eat buffet so I've opted for more inside chores and play.

After several games of hide and go seek (there are only so many places to hide), movie days, baking, bean buckets, ceiling golf and other typical indoor activities, we were getting bored quickly. Rhino is content playing solo with his stick but the the rest show their boredom in more disastrous ways. Tiger, for example, has grown a little tired of flooding the bathtub so he's trying out some new spider man stunts. Puppy just wants a snack all day long and Monkey has taken to painting the house again.

In attempt to occupy the girls and get a little cleaning done, I ventured to take them back to my childhood, at least the parts I want them to know about anyway.

I love grocery shopping. It is still one of those things I look forward to doing and I think I've even mentioned before how one of my favorite "alone time" childhood occupations was when I would unload and "scan" all of my mother's groceries when she got home...(that and playing Motorhome Hamburgers...) so today I taught my girls how to set up shop.

We got out our old keyboard and telephone; the first to enter the price and the second because it never fails that you get in the middle of a load and something doesn't have a price tag on it.

"Price Check on aisle 3"

Using an old computer mouse pad to scan in the items with bar-codes, the girls became fascinated with the idea and luckily we had plenty of counter space to load up the items, they were quite good at finding loose items to shop for (they get that from me). At the end of the counter were bags and baskets- each item was placed in it's appointed spot to go back as a return.

We rotated shifts (keeping it fair for all) so while one shopped, another worked the register and sorted the items and the last one re- stocked the shelves. The girls had a blast... and I found myself kicking them off the cash register a time or two to get my turn.

I marveled to watch their faces light up as if a whole new world had been opened up to them and I quickly remembered how many hours I myself had spent shopping, scanning and getting price checks. Some things were different this time around. I didn't mind restocking as much as I used to and (at the insistence of Puppy) we all wore costumes. The shelf-stocker wore an apron while the cashier had a name tag and had to ask how your day was going and if you found everything alright. She was looking forward to having a door greeter welcoming the shoppers but I convinced her that times were tough and we were a little short-staffed so she was content with posting sign letting viewers know that we were accepting applications. The biggest difference, however, was the shopper. It wasn't that she had to carry her purse (and in Monkey's case wear a dress and heels- she didn't get that from me) but that the shopper didn't need any coins. Monkey insisted that we pay for our items (at least I'm teaching her something) but when I got pennies out she threw them at me and had a fit. I implored her to explain her behavior so we could get on with it but she stormed downstairs. Thinking we'd lost her interest, Puppy and I moved forward with our play time when Monkey came marching back upstairs. With her high heels, purse and debit card in hand- she was now ready to complete her transaction (I guess she gets that part from her mom too). After swiping her card, and entering in a few numbers (yes, she even had her own PIN number!) Monkey went about her shopping.

Rhino was excited to get in on the fun until he learned we didn't carry any encyclopedias or food items at the time. Tiger was content having alone time in the Lego aisle so we let him be... other toy stores let you do it so we didn't feel the need to throw him out and even on the account of no shoes, shirt (or pants; we didn't deny him service. We believe the customer is always right - especially when it's a Tiger.

The loft was cleaned up very quickly and we found ourselves opening a clothing department just to get to keep playing.

I got to spend time with the girls, the toys were cleaned up, the laundry sorted and I got to play store instead of my usual household employment; maintenance. Movin' up the corporate ladder? Maybe I am. What started out as a time killer turned into a time marker- memories that we can have (and play out) over and over again since we've already got our setup costs covered, the rest is straight profit.

One of the best parts about being a mom is getting to relive your childhood as you become a part of theirs.

Times are different and games I played aren't the same ones kids are playing today (we didn't require a screen and a remote)- but it goes to show that not everything changes and in so many simple ways, you can still say, "like mother, like daughter" and have it mean something good.

I was happy to learn that while we have our own separate personalities and interests, we found common ground on the playing field.

Now, we just need to agree on the color we want our store name to be written on the billboard and what to do about double coupons on Tuesdays....