Errands with Children

Today after work I did a couple of errands and still was able to pick the girls up before 4. I actually needed to go to Target and thought we could handle doing this all together since the best Target in the greater Sacramento area is actually just one mile from my house. No need to go to the one closer to my work. Right? Wrong. Erin is too little to stay near me in the store but REFUSES to ride in the cart. I'm going to have to resort to lollipop bribes after this trip. I got most of the things I needed then proceeded to the children's clothing area. At this point Erin was doing the "I'm going to play kitty and crawl around and meow on the floor" thing, while Kate was trying to manuever the cart through the clothing racks, that, might I add, were just close enough together that she had to bump into every one, and run over any clothes that were falling off. I'd just about had it so I picked Erin up, screaming - and now crying. I held her in one arm, football style, grabbed the cart from Kate with the other hand, making Kate cry thinking she was in trouble, and headed for the cash registers. I wasn't in the mood to take the time to explain to Kate that it wasn't her fault, someone, probably a pimply teenager, set the racks entirely too close to fit a cart into, without taking into consideration the cart driving capabilities of a five year old. So I'm sure I snapped at her a bit too quickly. We got to the register and there were only three open, which is fine if you are a single, working professional woman without kids and a little free time on your hands to browse the clearance aisles. I got in line where the light was ON and three people were in front of me. I spent the next eternity trying to get Kate and Erin to keep their paws off the candy, especially the little sugary stick thingy with a fan on the end that actually worked. What a thrill for a two year old. By the time I got to the register - I KID YOU NOT - the cashier actually had the guts to ask me, Mother of Heathen One and Heathen Two, how many items I had because she was closed now. I think the death-ray that shot out of my eye when she got about 2/3 of the way into her sentence made her want to crawl under the counter and hide. I had four items. Two kids in meltdown mode. You can't tell me she didn't notice the minute we actually entered her line - when the light was ON. Oh, she was going to take my items. If not over the scanner, then up her a**.