Was it worth it?

What price do you put on sanity?

I really needed to go to the grocery store yesterday. We were out of yogurt, waffles, and pretzles, and close to being out of milk, eggs, bread, apple juice, and anything to make a meal out of.

My options were:

a) Keep Austin from his nap, and take he and Annie to the store while Ellie was at school. Now, I didn't really like this option, because like all my kids have been, when the little man misses his nap, it messes him up for about 2 days. Not to mention the crankiness that would have ensued at the grocery store.

b) Have the hubs grab the essentials on his way home from work, and go to the store with the 2 youngest ones tomorrow. Ah, this would have been my pick, except that we were forcasting snow last night and today, and there was a distinct possibility that we might not have school, which would mean I'd have all three kids at the grocery store, in the snow. Which, as it turns out, we are having a snow day today!

c) Go to the store alone last night, without kids, after they were asleep. Again, normally I might have picked this option, except that I was tired, so very very tired yesterday, and American Idol was on. And yes, I have tivo, but I was already behind by one night, and I was afraid if I fell behind another night, it might have just been too much for me.

d) Go to a store with just Austin, while the girl's were at swimming lessons. Now, because of the location, and duration of swimming lessons, I had to go to a store I NEVER go to. This option meant marathon shopping, in a unfamiliar store.

Which would you pick?

Yes, me too, I picked option 'd'.

So, after dropping off the girl's at their lesson, Austin and I zoomed off to the grocery store. We had 30 minutes to get in, get the goods, and get out.

We started off fairly well, and made it through the produce section with super speed. We actually did pretty well overall, considering I wasn't too familiar with the layout of the store.

We hit some speed bumps about halfway through the store, when the pile of groceries in the cart grew high enough for Austin to reach. He delights in throwing the groceries overboard, and watching me say "No Son", and pick them up.

We reached the frozen section, which at this point in my life, has become my friend. As I reached for frozen pizzas, frozen crock-pot meals, and frozen veggies, I noticed something...the PRICES.

Now, I am not a bargain shopper. I am not a coupon clipper. I don't even watch the ads. I do try and buy less expensive brands of some things, and at my normal store, I always use my discount card. All that to say, I normally don't pay a lot of attention to the prices, but I do kinda know them. So as I was grabbing a few of our favorite Smart Ones, I about fell over when I saw the price! This store was charging double what Target does, and almost triple what Wal-Mart does!

I paused, my arm frozen in mid-reach.

Do I continue to shop? Do I buy these? How much is everything else?

All this ran through my brain in approximately 1.5 seconds, and then I remembered my other options. With a sigh, I continued to shop, filled up my cart, and proceeded to the check-out. My total? Well, it was at least $30 more than my normal bill.

At least.

So now I am wondering, was it worth $30? $30 can buy you a lot...

A new sweater.

A new mirror.

A new lamp.

A cute pair of these. (if I were a model.)

Or it can buy you a marathon grocery shopping experience, at a store you don't like, with only one child, so you can watch American Idol in peace, while your children are sleeping, and go to bed at a decent hour.