Princess Power

Today I made a horrible mistake. I took my six year old daughter shopping with me. I really just wanted to get the kids some socks and underwear, (not for Christmas). I thought they could use it, and there are some decent sales going on right now, so I decided to go after school. It was a 1.5 hour torture session with Mom as victim. I gave her a snack before we left. She didn't show any signs of being overly tired. I wasn't worried. As soon as we walked in however, she went into Princess overdrive. She was stuck in "I wanna toy" mode, and wouldn't let it go. She never did until we started the drive home. She did about everything that she could think of to obstruct the stroller/cart, or express her disapproval at my saying "no" to the toy idea. Christmas is in less than one week. I'm not buying random toys for children, especially misbehaving children. About 90% of my brain was trying to keep her under control, reasoning with her and the other 10% was trying to find what I needed. At the moment, I'm seriously considering a heart to heart consult with Santa Claus with regard to the possibility of getting her put on the naughty list. She knows it, and she seems somewhat motivated to redeem herself. Thankfully, I already had dinner in the crockpot. If not, I think I would've collapsed into a puddle like the Wicked Witch at the end of the Wizard of OZ. Wait - I think it was a house that fell on her. It doesn't make much difference. I feel like a house fell on me. Although I must admit that simply maintaining my cool under that kind of duress, even if I couldn't enjoy the actual experience, gives me something to reflect on with amazement. I have survived one of the fiercest trials known to man, unrelenting torture by princess.