I survived

I survived Wal-mart on the Saturday before Christmas...with three kids in tow...
We needed to go today because there were some ornaments we needed to get for an ornament swap at a Christmas party we are going to tomorrow. So I started by bribing the kids that if they stayed in the cart (rather than walking) they would each get a treat. I was thankful for this because we did actual encounter a little girl who was lost and right as I was heading her towards a Wal-mart clerk her brother showed up.
I got two carts just so the kids could spread out. They helped me pick out the ornaments (a John Deere Tractor and a set of Jingle Bells), we got the food things we needed (which interestingly enough the food section was a lot less busy than the merchandise section), and then we got the Ferrari we needed. A child at our church was going around asking people to get him a Ferrari. Jim, being the slightly twisted guy I married said yes. So hence the trip to the toy section and a Hot Wheels Ferrari. We couldn't find a red one like he wanted but they had white, yellow and silver to choose from (we ended up with white). I had already known that I wouldn't make it out of the Hot Wheels section without the kids wanting a car so promising a new car for good behavior was not a stretch. Doug and Josie each picked different cars with flames and Andy opted for a Matchbox Fire Engine. Doug had his package open before we had even left the aisle and Andy had his out before we reached the check-out. We lucked out and got through the check-out quickly and Josie happily had her car immediately after it crossed the scanner.