Will Julia Child Please Come to the Bakery

Last week I had to take all three boys to the grocery store, which is not something I do on a regular basis for obvious reasons. In fact, I feel that criminals should, as part of their punishment, be required to take a shopping cart full of small children to the grocery store and should be expected to find a certain number of items on a list (which is being swatted at or chewed on by a baby,) Choose the items (which are on sale), price match those items at check-out, and not kill anyone in the process. Anyway, back to the small neighborhood grocery store with three small children. We were doing well until the two older boys were drawn away from the cart by a display of pet toys. Yes, pet toys. I turned up the adjacent aisle and began looking for the item on my list in that aisle while urging the boys to get back to the cart. I felt confident about the boys' location since I could still hear the squeaking of said pet toys, when suddenly it became silent. I hurried back to the display and they were gone. Just like that. LONG gone. I think I saw a tumble weed roll past. I was rushing around calling out their names for what seemed like only seconds when the PA system clicked on and the kindly female voice said, "We have two little boys here in the bakery looking for their mom." I tried to hurry because I knew what was coming next. The speaker clicked on again and the woman laughed, "Julia Child, you are needed in the bakery." I tried to ignore the giggling from the other shoppers around me. I can't say I blame them. The irony deserved a chuckle at the very least. As I turned the corner to the bakery I saw them both standing there HOLDING COOKIES and I tried to control both my embarrassment and my anger. Now that I look back on it, I'm not sure if I was more embarrassed about my apparent lack of parenting skills or the fact that I am so often mistakenly referred to as the late Julia Child. On the way home, after my lengthy lecture Jack said from the backseat, "Hey, Mom. You know that speaker where they call people out loud in the store? That is actually a phone!" I think the message they got from this experience was; Getting lost is fun!