Can't win for trying...

Rivky got a 20.00 Target gift card for her birthday. Since I didn't have to teach this morning, I figured we could take the kids there and run some other errands.

Around and around we went through the toy aisles. Rivky kept asking, "If I buy this, how much money will I have left?" I was totally empathic. I could feel like a 6 year old in a toy store, with so many choices. After half an hour of deep contemplation, she finally decided. Then Chaya piped up and said, "I left my money at home, can you buy me this Polly Pocket and I'll pay you back?" I was ready to say yes, but Yaakov beat me to the punch. "No, you have enough Polly Pockets." Since Yaakov said no, I wasn't about to disagree with him in front of the kids. Thus began the Target Soap Opera.

Chaya started to cry faster than you could say "Drama Queen." She really went to town. I said, "You can hold the Polly Pocket while we finish shopping," but she would not stop carrying on. We passed the furniture section and there were these 2 big chairs. So I said, "Chaya, have a seat and get it all out. When you're done, we'll move on." She cried, rationalized, begged and pleaded. I sat in the other chair and sympathized with her. When she was done we started walking, but then she started crying all over again. Back to the chairs! This happened one more time before she was through. Then we went to the little CD listening station and sampled "relaxing" CD's. That's when Yaakov and the boys caught up with us.

She started welling up at the cash register again. She placed her Polly Pocket underneath the Chapsticks and Tic-Tacs, leaving her alone on her funeral pyre. I felt Chaya needed to mourn, so I didn't bother to calm her.

The rest of the day was more of the same, different kids with different meltdowns. I finally lost my temper at the end of the day, and I almost called a friend for a cigarette.

Almost.