Bonding at Sam's Club

A Little History

So when my kids were little we had a Sam's Club membership. It wasn't that I loved Sam's Club—after all, it is owned by the evil WALLMART, but when I had a child in diapers... three pets... A house to maintain... it just was sort of a necessity. Our area HAD no CostCo [read: highly preferable warehouse store] at the time (the existing CostCo's are still a comparatively long way away). So Sam's Club it was.



I worked full time. My husband was the 'at home' dad. So on the weekends I had the kids—he was fed-up and I sort of needed some bonding time. My husband was UNWILLING to do the Sam's Club trip because he had already acquired the delusion that we were made of money and the whole concept annoyed him. So to Sam's Club with the small childings it was...

Eight YEARS (part of which, my family looked like this—miniature kids and me at goal weight)... twice a month (or thereabouts)... the kids and me... Sam's Club. My son—you may not know this—is called Sam. And as small children are inclined to do... he figured if it was called 'Sam's Club' it was HIS. Never mind that the concept of a child having his own warehouse store is a little wonky. He would say, 'there's my club!' as we approached.



About two years ago the savings from the membership sunk under the membership cost... we haven't had a membership because between the drive and our current need, it just really wasn't quite worth it anymore.



But this weekend they had a 'anyone can come in' weekend, so my husband asked if it was a good idea to make a trip... Sure... there is some stuff we could use... I threw it out. BOTH KIDS REALLY wanted to go with me. WTF? They are 15 and 11 now, and they wanted to give up half their Saturday to go to Sam's Club with me? WITH EACH OTHER?

The Trip



(not my ACTUAL shopping cart... just representative) So I got them up at noon—they ARE teens, after all... got them fed... and off we went. They joked the entire time about 'buying in bulk' whatever they saw, they suggested we needed to buy in bulk... 'look, mom—there is a pack of nine phones. We could put one in the bathroom' *rolls eyes* Our house doesn't have nine rooms—no, wait... it has exactly nine rooms... but we'd need a phone in the storage room and laundry room... They negotiated—'you get to pick two snacks, I get to get two snacks.' They harassed me over things they were sure we needed and got all nostalgic over things we used to buy (I gave in and bought snack packs of applesauce). I guess what really struck me though, is that other than a couple movies, the three of us haven't done much with all three of us in a long time, and I think they really MISSED these Saturdays shopping together... such an ODD thing to get nostalgic about, but they WERE. And I really liked it, too. So there you have it... you never know where the moments might poke through. Take them where they come.





On that EXCITING note, I bought two thumb drives and two packs of NOTEBOOKS!!! I salivate when I buys notebooks. I love them... spiral. Three ring... Each one is a novel to me. And because it was Sam's Club, I have 10 of them... 10 novels sitting in the chair WAITING to be written. Makes me all squiggly just thinking about it! And blue, medium point pens! SQUEEEEEEEE!