How To Have a Pleasant Shopping Experience with Young Children

I will tell you.
I had just spent 70 minutes at the gym exercising and my 3 youngest boys spent that 70 minutes in the baby sitting room at the gym.  When I picked them up they were hungry, tired and pretty much completely sick of each other. But I had to pick up some basic staples at the grocery store before we went home or I wouldn't get back out.  I had to go now and I had to take them with me.  They were  fighting just walking.  I didn't even have any emergency stash of anything in my pockets either.  Wasn't looking like too good of a shopping trip.  I put the 3 of them in the cart and tried to distract them by going fast, tilting the cart, pretending we were crashing etc... they were not amused with anything . . . in fact they were getting even more annoyed.  Then. . . I saw it. . . the bakery.  I told them they could each pick out a donut.  They all picked glazed with chocolate icing and sprinkles.  It was less expensive for a half dozen so I also bought 3 more to take home.  I told them they could eat the donuts now.  They inhaled them. . . these little starving kids devoured their donut in 3 total bites.  They knew about the other 3 donuts in the bag.  They begged for the other donuts.  I gave in.  They each had 2 donuts a piece in a 60 second time span.  Now they were full and happy.  I cruised most of the whole store, even comparing prices, feeling the produce. . . very productive trip.  At the check out the cashier could not help but notice these calm well behaved kids  (like in a sugar and fat induced coma calm).  She remarked on how pleasant they were ..and so many!  Then she saw all that chocolate on their faces and the sprinkles in their hair and said, "Oh. . . that donut is going to spoil their lunch today."  I smiled back and told her it was 2 donuts and it was their lunch for the day.  She put her hand over her mouth in shock and looked like she would have a heart attack.  Then she looked at the bagger who now had her hand over her mouth with shared shock and they both kind of glared at me in a mutual mortified disbelief.  They were not happy one bit with my mommy skills.  Those 3 boys were very happy with my mommy skills.