A store story

Fall is here.  The countdown to Halloween is on, and Bradley is going to be Superman for Halloween this year.  He couldn't be more proud to put on that costume!  And it's not the cheapie-cheap kind either- this one has real "muscles" on it aka it's 3 times as expensive.  I didn't care how much I paid for the costume the moment I saw him try it on when we got home, and his face lit up!

On that note, Bradley went on a nap strike last Sunday afternoon, so I took him with me to run some errands (getting the costume was one of them), and I warned myself before we left that taking an over-tired preschooler on a multiple store shopping excursion was possibly a recipe for disaster, so I prioritized and ran the important errands first.  You know what?  We had an absolute blast!  Or at least I did, anyways.  Sure, it took me longer to get through the stores because he stops to look (and touch) everything, but to quote one of our favorite bedtime books, Llama Llama Mad at Mama, "I think shopping's boring too, but at least I'm here with you."

I'll tell you another thing- shopping with a child is automatic spend-control!  You can't browse too long in the purse section of TJ Maxx before being urged to move on to something else.  Having Bradley with me kept me on track, preventing me from shopping for items that weren't on our list!

He was well-behaved, and he only knocked down one display at the Gap!  Yeah, I ventured in there because I had a coupon, but decided quickly that this was not a good idea, nor was it a priority today.
Knock down a sign and make a racket?  Time to go- see?  That's automatic spend-control!  I think I'm onto something here, and I'll be taking Bradley with me on all some of my shopping trips from now on!  (Hey, a girl's gotta fall into the Gap flying solo every now and then...)