The school supply lists for public school aren't as extensive as they were for private school. So I had no trouble yesterday getting all the few items and I would have even been happy to buy more. On the other hand, there's a part of me that suspects that a second list may be sent home in the first week of school, specifically from the homeroom teacher, with more things. I imagine the office just sends home the same list every year and teachers don't bother to update it. But we'll see.

I went to Walmart, which I've learned very much to loathe in recent years, out of necessity. Flickr prints there now instead of at Target and I wanted Tim to send some summer pictures to his second grade teacher. I won't turn this into a rant against Walmart but the sound of jackhammering that wafted into the store from the loading dock area was constant and intolerable. No wonder kids were shrieking and carrying on. Even my nerves got a little on edge from it. Jackhammering is bloody loud.

On our way out, we ran into Ella's former teacher. It was very nice to see her but Ella was shy and certainly didn't want to hug her. I think my kids get embarrassed by their own strong feelings.

I didn't find everything at Walmart, surprise. So I was on the way to Target when I saw Michaels and decided to try there for an art smock for Tim. They've never had them in the past so I've no idea why I expected that to change. Instead, Chris was offering me a tantrum and didn't want to leave the car. I eventually made a game out of putting his socks on - I teased him about his big feet and, oh, would I be able to even get his tiny socks on?! I bet 'no' and he was determined to prove me wrong! He's pretty easy to win over and that bit worked on him.

However, in the store, he kept badgering me about buying him some sort of toy and berating me for never doing it. I found something that I wanted to buy quite a few of, so I went back a few aisles for a shopping cart. I picked one with squeaky wheels and between that and my own squeaky wheel, it was too much, so I exchanged the one I could and resumed shopping. But for the life of me, I could not remember the reason I'd entered the store. What had I gone in there for? I had only Chris's words playing over and over in my head, "You always say 'no;' you never buy me anything good except food."¹ And as I stood motionless in the center of the aisle, I confessed to Chris that I couldn't remember what I wanted to buy because I was so affected by his words, he asserted, "That's what I wanted to happen."

Now it's ridiculous how slow I am, but this type of belligerency is always (really, always) an indication that Chris needs to use a restroom. Seriously. But since I had offered him such an opportunity at Walmart twenty minutes earlier I wasn't in the mood to offer again. When we returned to the car, Ella asked as she often does, "Where we going?" and Chris blurted, "Home!" It was going on 3 and I hadn't had lunch yet, so skipping Target and going home sounded good to me, too.

But first I went 'round the corner to Fred & Murry's Kosher Deli and got a junior sloppy joe. I persuaded Chris to use their restroom and, incredibly (but not surprising) his attitude completely improved! To my great joy, the $10 sandwich was out of this world. And it was only a sandwich, on rye. The homemade pickles were awesome, too. Only a little soggy. I also bought a lb. of macaroni salad and had some for dinner. I need to find the recipe because it's so sweet. I don't know what the dressing it. Maybe it's made with pareve Miracle Whip.

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¹ Four hours later it came back to me: an art smock for Tim. But the memory was only triggered by catching a glimpse of the school supply list in my purse when I opened it to pull out the packet of prints.