Monkey Men

The kids love to go grocery shopping with me, and generally they are pretty good.  Michael does believe that our Harris Teeter is a buffet, and he tends to moan (loudly, I might add) anytime he is not chewing while we are in the store.  Thankfully, they accommodate him well and there are generally samples of fruit in the produce section and meat, cheese, and a dessert near the deli and bakery.  There are also always sugar cookies, and I've learned to also take snacks in my purse for him.  As long as his mouth is full, he is quiet.

Interestingly, this only applies to Harris Teeter.  If we go grocery shopping at Walmart, he is content to sit in the cart.  He may want to hold something, and possibly chew on the box (between the boys I inevitably always have to pay for a box or two that looks like it has been attacked by a rat), but he won't throw a temper tantrum like he does at Harris Teeter if he is denied food. 

A couple of weeks ago we went shopping at Walmart after breakfast, and by the time we got home, the boys were hungry since they did not snack while we were there.  One of Leon's favorite activities is to empty all the grocery bags, and he loves to practice his feats of strength by seeing if he can get the heaviest items out of the bag.  He mastered the extra large jars of spaghetti sauce months ago, and he's been known to get a gallon of milk off the floor, even if he can't actually walk and lift it at the same time.  On this particular morning I had purchased a seven pound value pack of chicken, and this had him stumped.  While he stared it down, I ran around the house taking care of a few other things with the intent of going back to the kitchen and giving the boys a snack while I finished putting the groceries away.

Suddenly I noticed it was quiet.  Anyone who has ever been around kids knows that quiet is never a good sign.  It either means the kids are either unconscious or else they are Doing Something They Shouldn't Do.  I quickly made it back to the kitchen where I found the boys sitting side by side with a bunch of bananas between them.  Michael had bitten the end off a banana and was holding it in his hand while Leon scooped out the inside of the banana for them to share.  Interestingly, Leon really was sharing, and they were both snacking away.  Apparently they got tired of waiting for me to return to get them a snack and decided to take matters into their own hands.