I have good kids {even when I think I don't}

A few weeks ago I went out on a limb and took the girls to Costco after a full day of school, dance, and work. Add in the fact that the Hubbs was out of town on business and it's just crazy that I thought this was a great idea. Great idea or not, we needed the essentials like eggs, chicken, produce, and flushable wipes. Yes, flushable wipes.
Going to Costco anytime after five on any day is a recipe for disaster. We are usually tired from the day whether we worked or not. It's usually crowded with other people on their way home from working trying to buy their own essentials (flushable wipes I'm sure) and also trying to get something quick for dinner at the food court. The food court is usually another disaster zone, because the food is cheap, super unhealthy, and the only thing to drink is soda. Which makes my children oh so happy. Don't get me wrong, I love me some Costco, but after work isn't my favorite Costco to love.  

Dinner at Costco for the win!

Going after work does have it's advantages, especially when you know your kids will eat food court food. Caitlin got a sandwich and Mac got a hot dog and sodas for everyone, so the real shopping could begin. As we passed other Costco shoppers they looked at my girls chowing down on some serious nitrates and sodium. They looked at their dirty faces and food in their hair. I just ignored them and threw The Book Thief in my cart, because mama needs some love too. That's when I realized why I was getting so many stares, my kids were being well behaved. They were eating and talking and not begging for every single thing Costco had to offer including gardening tools.
Huh. My kids are being good. Who would have thought?
I guess I should have thought. As they get older they surprise me at how well they behave in public. I always tell people it's because they know they will get beat, but seriously I think it's because they know what I expect when we are in public. It's strange to realize that your kids actually do "know better", since they appear to have no idea what the rules are at home. I'm amazed at the good reports I get from school, Caitlin always volunteers to clean up. Really, because we have to bribe her with five dollar bills at home (only kind of kidding). Mackenzie loves to share at play time. Are you sure we are talking about the same Mackenzie that screams at the top of her lungs if she has to share the Barbies with her sister? Is it crazy to ask why they don't act that way with me? Why aren't they on their best behavior for me at home? 

If I look surprised it's because my kids are being good.

I guess they are on their best behavior for me, it's just in front of other people. Strangers really, and I can't really complain about that. I'd rather have them fight like two sorority girls over the last beer at home, than act like real a-holes in Costco. I'm grateful that they save their worst behavior for me, even though it's soul crushing when it happens. How do you feel you are winning at motherhood when your children are being terrible and breaking all the rules of good behavior at home? I guess you take good and well behaved children when you can get them, including the grocery store or Target.  

This kid eating a hotdog, cut up with a fork out of a cup. She's such a lady

Last month on my birthday I took both girls to the mall, in the rain, to spend some of my birthday money. Can I tell you that this situation would have never happened three years ago, or even a year ago? We went to three stores and I tried on clothes at all three. I even stopped at two places to try on shoes. They were angels. They were perfect. They were model citizens of the under 10 set. 
Until we got in the car and they screamed and yelled over the strawberry lemonade slushy I was making them share. Then one grabbed it from the other and it spilled, and then it started to rain again, and just as I was about to scream at them, I realized something:
They are good kids. Even when they aren't, they are still good kids. And I will take slushy fights in the back seat every day of the week for two hours of shopping bliss. So I thanked them for being so incredibly good on my birthday and at the mall. I thanked them a few weeks ago after Costco. In my early days of being a mother I was so scared to leave the house with one kid, let alone two. But now, I realize that I'm lucky that my kids save their best material for me, and not the Target line or the grocery store.
Take a look at your kids today. I bet they are good, really good, even if you think they aren't. Now thank them for being so good and take them to Costco for some nitrates and sodium, where there are sodas for everyone, including you. Although I'm pretty sure you deserve wine. All the best mothers do.