Crafty Kiddos

One of my favorite outings is going to the local craft store. And when the kiddos were babes, it was easy--they stayed in their stroller and were entertained by the yarn and what-nots I would pass to them as we wandered around. DD at least once as an infant shoplifted some yellow boucle yarn by tucking it in her carrier. Of course, I forgot all about it by checkout, excited about my own goodies. But we returned it the next time.

Now, however, is a different story. The craft store is one big field day--there are crayons and markers and paints and paper and yarn and doo-dads with Dora and Diego and rubber stamps and even little plastic animals and all manner of palm-sized things to pick off shelves. What could be more fun? They have long since abandoned the double stroller so we go in on foot. Even with a shopping cart, they're in and out of it a dozen times before I hit the first aisle. And that's if they aren't riding on the side of it! (No wonder the cashiers at Target are always handing me "buckle up for safety" stickers. Look, Target, if you made a viable cart with 2 seats, I could buckle them. But having 1 cart in the whole store that seats 2 kids just doesn't cut it! And that cart is a behemoth. And has a wonderful bar to swing off of, even if I do nab it.)

Back to the craft store. Anyway, I love to shop there and could browse all day. Hmmm, Wilton Cake decorating course materials, always wanted to try cake decorating. Pretty pastel yarn on sale, might be another baby in the playgroup after the 2 dozen or so I've already made blankets for! Oooooooh, new seasonal rubber stamps! And oh that fleece to make another knotted blanket (finished one yesterday, twin bed size, mauve and teal, very warm). But the kiddos aren't usually a). that into my craft supplies or b). that patient when I'm selecting items or c). able to keep their hands off a million different things. Who can blame them? At the craft store, I can't either.

But this one has a saving grace: the jungle and the fairy garden. That's right, right smack-dab in my craft store is a children's entertainment paradise: the floral department. And the kiddos start asking to visit it as soon as we get our cart; but we save it until last, my only leverage to enforce the two store golden rules--don't touch unless I say okay and stay with mommy. One aisle is full of fake fica trees, so full of them that they lean in forming a tunnel. This is the jungle. Yesterday, DS and DD were spotting all manner of creatures in the jungle as they giggled running back and forth with their "spotting scopes"--there were scarlet macaws above and gorillas below, and a pygmy marmoset. I kid you not; it's the educational effect of Diego. And right next to this jungle is the "fairy garden," full of silk flowers in all the colors of the rainbow. DD and DS, as DD explained to DP last night, are actually the fairies in the garden wandering from plant to plant. I am sure there were bunnies and butterflies in there with them.

So they run back and forth from jungle to garden, garden to jungle, screeching with happiness. Oftentimes, however, they are completely waylaid by the huge vases and pots on the back wall, which make great drums and echo chambers. This is the scary part because many of those are breakable. So I stand back by them and pace between aisle, using the laughter to figure out where they are. I know, they're out of my sight for seconds, but they are within earshot and, truthfully, with every clerk and customer in the store watching the merriment, nothing is going to happen. Besides, by now, all the employees recognize us.

Polish those spotting scopes, kiddos, the craft store is having a sale this week!