Did you find my dignity at the Commissary???

Today was Commissary day...our cupboards were bare and needed replenishment.  I have not had an episode with my beans in the store in a long time - so I guess I was due.  (I recall one particular trip in Pensacola where Canaan started pitching a record of a fit and I earnestly looked around and said "Little girl, where is your Mommy??"  It shocked and confused her so much she stopped wailing.)  Unfortunately,  my megaphone-crier-drooling-Lena is not so easily dissuaded from her quest for publicly humiliating her mother.
Please picture the following...
Chilly bean riding happily in the snugli on Mama's chest, chubby toes kicking away; Jumping bean riding in the "car cart" (genius invention) singing songs about Jesus; String bean also riding in the "car cart" steering the cart very carefully down the aisle. All beans were behaving so beautifully, I doled out some candy treats. (Points for being a good mommy, right? Not so much.)  Lena was playing with her candy - instead of keeping it in her mouth as I had instructed - and dropped it on the floor.
Suddenly the joy was sucked out of the general vicinity. Wailing, crying, tears, and a general gnashing of teeth immediately followed my announcement that no candy would be replacing the lost piece.  After numerous people started to walk down the aisle and then promptly decided they didn't really need any paper products; I was able to steer the cart towards the bathrooms. Canaan stayed in the mostly-loaded cart to stand watch. (Those car-carts are a hot commodity - once I get one I don't let it go!!) Off to the bathroom I carried my oh-so-very-strong 2 1/2 year old (horizontally on my hip - enabling her kicking legs to not make contact with me or Taylor) and prepared for battle.
There are moments that I need to be reminded of the Fruits of the Spirit (Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control Gal. 5:22-23) and I found myself repeating them over and over in my head to keep calm. (It also gave me something to focus on that wasn't the pitying looks of other shoppers!)  Unfortunately, when we entered the bathroom, all three stalls were occupied. Of course. So we had to wait for the handicapped stall to come available - we can't all fit in one of the skinny stalls!  Hallelujah - the handicapped stall has a kid-keeper seat that I was able to stow Taylor in for the battle that was yet to come. Lena - who can be summed up as Passionate - knew discipline was about to occur and did not feel like suddenly becoming a compliant child. Instead she theatrically threw herself onto the public bathroom floor and started flailing. And continued with the crying that had started in the aisle. It was a thing to behold. (Preferably by someone else's child)  I was - miraculously - able to keep my voice calm and level. Taylor was not. Lena's crying scares Taylor (it scares me at times too!) so Taylor was sobbing away as well.  I waited until someone flushed and then Lena had a swift swat on the bum.  That did NOT quell the crying. It may have managed to increase it. So, she was dead set on getting a 2nd spanking for her fit about the spanking. Thankfully, she managed to pull it together, I was able to calm Taylor, and we all washed our hands.  We made it back out to the cart...loaded the Jumping bean in... and proceeded back to the aisle to get the toilet paper we needed. Unfortunately, that was the scene of the lost candy. Lena was barely able to keep her emotions in check...her raspy breathing and periodic sniffles gave testimony to her hard work at not losing it again.
All I could think through it all was this... One day we will have an 18 year old, a 16 year old, a 14 year old, and a 13 year old... at least 3 will be girls...oh the emotions we will experience then!!!  I guess this should just count as training for the future!
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