Oops ... Did I Just Steal That?

Shopping for anything is crazy with kids, especially at the mall. It is the ultimate multi-tasking experience.  There is the primary goal - get what you came for, and then a whole bunch of other things going on - trying to keep the kids entertained, dishing out snacks, wiping noses, searching for tasks older kids can help with, maintaining visual at all times and trying to make decisions on what you came for.

Sometimes, even though we have the best intentions of getting in, purchasing and getting out as quickly as possible, something delays us.  This is when it all breaks down as the kids start to get creative on how they will entertain themselves - "helping" to pick out clothes, practicing throwing skills with their snack, doing the limbo and getting out of their strollers, hiding behind clothing carousels, running away from you in the ultimate game of catch or ... the ever-feared tantrum.

My eldest son likes to help by picking items out and putting them in the bottom of the stroller.  Our double stroller has a huge storage basket that forms a dark abyss below the stroller. Anything that gets put in their, can get lost for weeks.

The other day we went shopping and I did pretty well getting in and out BUT as I was packing both kids into the car and then folding down the stroller before heaving it in my trunk, that's when I noticed it ... a navy T-shirt that I did not purchase or even look at for that matter.

AHHHHHH! I just stole a shirt.

My eldest son must have been shopping for me again and decided we must have this shirt.  I'm wondering why the security alarms at the store did not pick this up?

Now, just to clarify, I do plan on returning the shirt, but at the point of discovery I was already out in the parking lot, fully packed up and their was no way I was going back in the mall.

And, just to come completely clean, it has happened to me one other time when I magically found two black linen place mats in the abyss ... my son had much better taste that day ;)

Take care and be sure to check those stroller baskets!

Sincerely,

Innocent Shoplifter