Cheap Thrills

Yes, yes, I AM the best mother ever!

Yesterday I took the kids on a little outing to the hardware store. I wanted to get a doorbell that would ring in the basement, so I put the kids in the car and drove over to Lowe’s. After a little assistance, we found the doorbell aisle. As I looked for what I needed, I let the kids push the test buttons. I let them ring the bells for about 30 minutes!

Luke would ring them and then Brooke and Hannah would dance around. Finally I found a salesperson to help answer my questions and we got out of there.

Upon leaving, the kids noticed the PetsMart across the parking lot and so in an effort to be the best mother ever, we headed over for a sightseeing trip to the pet store.

PetsMart is like a little, free zoo. We head in the front door and walk around the fish area (the girls looked for the Nemos) and then past the cats. The kids tell anyone in the area (or themselves if no one else is around) that their dad is allergic to cats and that’s why we can’t have one.

Next we find ourselves in front of the rodents - it’s a great day if some of them are up and moving around. Now we shiver as we watch the snakes and lizards move around – there might even be some teasing about feeding someone to a snake…I’m so mean… We always have to check out the birds next. I answer a lot of questions about what are they doing, why do they eat that, where is their potty…

We end our time at PetsMart by the dog grooming area. Yesterday we hit the jackpot! There were SIX dogs being groomed!! We sat and watched for a while and talked about the different breeds and why we weren’t getting another dog – one is ENOUGH for mom! Some of the pet owners even let the kids pet their dogs.

We headed home with mom feeling like she accomplished something (got the doorbell extender) and the kids feeling like they had a fun field trip with 2 exciting activities. Luke was bummed that he didn’t get to have a treat at either place – I did offer him doggie biscuits at the pet store while he was throwing a tantrum there, and that got him laughing (well handled mom!). So all in all, great day.