Rainy Day Shopping

Today is a rainy, dark, blah and dreary day.  One of those days that you have to have some lights on in the house during the day so you don't wreck your eyes because there's no sunshine coming in.  The wet, cold weather outside sucks out the cheer and leaves you scrambling to keep the kids busy with play-dough, Lego, games, and food to keep them from each others' throats.   I thought, since the fridge was getting a little empty and the grocery store has lots of light and activity, it would be a good idea to take the kids out for a bit.  I packed them all up in their coats, hats, and rain boots, trudged out through the rain to the van to strap them in, and took off for the store.
Once there, I found that all the grocery carts were wet.  Oh well, I guess Nate and Aaron will have to deal with a wet bum.  I strapped them in and started filling up the cart.  Hey, look kids!  Chocolate milk!  Fantastic.  I put three of them in the cart, and plan on "price-matching" them to a competitor's flyer when I get to the checkout.  Chocolate milk never fails to excite the kids.  Then things start to unravel.  I'm halfway down an aisle before I realize that Nate has lost a boot and is just about to lose another one.  We backtrack to pick up the wayward footwear, and continue down the next few aisles, scratching things off the list as we go.  Nate decides to try something new, swiveling around in his seat, and although he is strapped in, he somehow manages to sprawl himself out over the groceries on the top of the cart, facing backwards and wiggling out of the seat belt.  I sit him back down and belt him back in at least three or four more times before we reach the checkout.  Thankfully, the line-up there isn't too bad, but the cashier is new and needs manager assistance to do the "price-match" for my chocolate milk.  No problem, except while she's doing this, Peter has climbed into the top tier of the now-empty grocery cart and is leaning out precariously, trying to reach the items on the bagging table while the buggy swings out the opposite direction.  Ahhhh, get down from there please before you break your nose!!
I tell the cashier I've got seven bags with me, and she gives me a blank stare.  They usually ask how many reusable bags you've taken with you, and give you a point for each bag.  I explain this to her, but instead of adding points, she decides to redeem all my points on the current purchase.  Hmmm.  No, actually, I would like to wait to redeem those points until there is a promotion please, not now yet.  The manager, who is still hanging around to help the confused cashier, cancels my order and takes me over to customer service.  I really didn't want to be a big pain, but the headache only becomes worse, for both me and the manager.  She rings my purchase through again and attempts to restore my points balance, but the balance is now down to zero, which is not great because I had at least $70 worth of points saved up.  While all this is going on, Aaron is busy man-handling Nate in the grocery cart, Nate is wailing, and Peter is wandering farther and farther away.  Finally, she says to just check my account over the next few days to see if the points have been returned, and we exchange names and phone numbers in case the situation is not resolved.  I think next time I won't say anything about points for my bags.
We make our way back to the van in the now pouring rain, and drive home.  While unpacking the groceries, Aaron's insistance on having a full cup of juice NOW escalates into a loud temper-tantrum, while Nate goes into hysterics because I stop him from walking around the house with a bottle of salad dressing that he stole from the fridge, and Peter is making loud noises in the background just for the fun of it, possibly just to tip the scale of insanity for his dear mother.  Perhaps a glass of chocolate milk will calm things down in here, I think.  But just before I pour the milk, I see that all three 1L containers that I brought home expired a MONTH ago.
Ugh.  This is not turning out to be a very good morning.