Daddies Say the Darndest Things

Here’s what was happening last night at Target, where Jim and I went on a post-dinner date shopping trip:

As Jim was on his phone with the fifteen-year-old, trying to determine what the heck size workout shorts he needs now (that dang kid just keeps growing!), I was browsing across the aisle and I heard the screams of two children coming closer and closer. They were in one of those huge carts that are so great for taking kids shopping: the ones where the kids sit upright outside of and behind the actual cart. This cart was flying down the aisles, and the kids were shrieking, partially from fear and partially from excitement. They were flying through the store, courtesy of their father.

As they rounded the corner and came closer to where I was, they slammed to a stop in the shoe department, where a woman (the mom) was shushing them. Through gritted teeth, she hissed, “If you don’t stop it right now, I’m sending you to the car!”

I realized moments later that she wasn’t talking to her children. As the dad turned them around and jogged away from the shoe department, he exclaimed to his young kids, “Who had margaritas with dinner???!!! Was it youuuuuu?”*

*I don’t believe the dad was terribly wasted, just a bit giddy. Let’s hope that Mommy was driving them all home, shall we??

9 Comments

  • Melisa

    Melissa: I’ll be watching for him and Hope next time I’m shopping at YOUR local Target!

    Manic: Duh, yeah, I know…I just e-mailed you saying “how did you know we went out for Mexican food?”, forgetting that the subject of my story did the same…that’s what a 90-minute conference call will do to your brain, I guess! 🙂

  • SpAzzGiRL

    I have very sternly said “would you knock it off!” in the Target before and I wasn’t talking to “the kid”, I was talking to the dad who thought a game of basketball was appropriate for the housewares department! LOL
    I was told I am “no fun!”

  • suchsimplepleasures

    oh, sorry…didn’t mean for you to meet us that way!!! actually, he had one or two, i had 10!! just kidding!!
    xoxo

  • Mags

    What?!? I didn’t comment? Hmm…I thought I did yesterday. I am losing my mind. 🙂

    This story is very funny…I thought of it last night when I was shopping and I saw a father running down the aisle with his kid in the cart. I think he was just playing though-and not drunk!

  • Melisa

    Kat: Come on over to America and do it: I’m finding out it’s quite common!

    Spazzgirl: I’ve been told I’m no fun, too. But we know the truth!

    SSP/Melissa: LOL was that YOU? You’ll have to identify yourself next time you’re in my part of town!

    Tara: Cart surfing? I had no idea there was a name for it, but now I do: love it!

    Mags: I guess it’s more common than I ever notice! (These kids were shrieking extra loud, so maybe the others just go under the radar for me…)