Who were those kids?

Oh, the post-Halloween / post-sugar-rush crash.  It's like the hangover after beating Navy.

Who were those tired and ill-tempered people I spent my entire day with?

Since my kids go to Catholic school, they had today off, which I initially thought was a great stroke of luck.  I didn't have to be "the meanest mom ever, no matter how long you look" this year.
Nope. This year I could be "fun mom", and pretend I didn't see them cramming their mouths so full of gummy candies that I thought they might puke.  You want to do one more street? Sure! Another cookie? Go ahead. Sleepover at your aunt's house? That's the best idea I've heard all day! 

I went to bed late (because I foolishly drank a coke at 8:30pm) without a care in the world. I was reveling in the possibility of sleeping late, of not making lunches or doing school drop-off. And all was good in the world today, until about 10am. Then all the positive energy we had built up as a family vanished like a puff of smoke.

Fighting. Whining. Crying. (and that wasn't even the kids...jk!) He started it. No, I didn't.  I'm going to hit him back. What do you mean now I can't come to Target?

Yep, right before I headed off to hit the 50% off post-Halloween sales, all hell broke lose.

But none of my children thought that he or she was behaving egregiously enough that they should have to miss my retail outing.  I guess it is all a matter of perspective.

While at Target, I managed to get almost all of what I went for- which can be hard to do with 5 kids in tow.  A-HA! You're thinking. She finally left one somewhere by accident. No, #3 decided he would rather stay home with Nanny and build his legos than go to Super Target with his sugar-crazed and sleep-deprived siblings.  He is very wise for a six year old.

Today, I discovered an immutable law of retail.

The number of cash registers open is inversely proportional to the percentage of your children that are melting down.  

Or for you math-letes:

Open lanes =  1/ (screaming kids/quiet kids x100%)

Everyone happy? All the lines are open.
Are you toting a hungry 3 yo, an exhausted 10 yo and an infant? Oh, so sorry. Only two cashiers showed up today....

At least school is back in session tomorrow since our school is not a polling place.
I will have to come up with a better strategy for Christmas vacation or that could be a very long two weeks!  Maybe "sort-of mean mom" is the way to go.