Open letter to the woman glaring at me at the store.

To the woman in the grocery with no kids (maybe you have them and didn't bring them, maybe you don't have them, maybe yours are grown up and you forgot what it's like), giving me dirty looks because my kids are slightly misbehaving; giving me dirty looks solves nothing. My kids are usually very well behaved when we are out and about, but today they weren't. Yes, I could have left the store and come back another time, but that would be counterproductive since I would have nothing to show for our time there and we would just be back there doing the same thing tomorrow, plus we would still be out of milk, and bread, and cereal at home. 
I don't normally bring my kids grocery shopping for the simple fact that it goes a lot faster without a 3 and 4 year old with me, but my husband had a last minute trip and he is gone, so for the next 4 days I don't have the luxury of leaving them at home. They normally are well behaved, but they are 3 and 4, so sometimes they act crazy. They weren't throwing fits, or tantrums, they just had a lot of energy and wanted to run. Yes, they sounded like they were yelling, because believe it or not, young kids don't understand the concept of "inside voices" no matter how many times we try to explain it to them. I understand that they may have been a slight annoyance to your grocery shopping, and I'm sorry for that, but acting like I am hell on earth isn't going to make it any better. 
Yes, I threatened to take a treat away from them for touching all the food and shaking that damn coconut tree (what where those display people thinking putting that there). I don't always do that, because I usually don't have to bribe them, just know that I was using that tactic to make your shopping go a little smoother because there is nothing toddlers like more than treats (except maybe Elsa and glitter). I was not ignoring their crazy behavior, I was trying to correct it while still getting my groceries as quickly as possible so I could get the hell out of there (for some reason the grocery store turns my kids into raging lunatics, maybe it's all the food). 
I can't stand when they behave that way, but as I said, leaving solves nothing because we still need food. Maybe one day, when you have kids (or if you already have kids, one day when you need to bring them with you), you will have the same kind of day that I did. You will be out of almost everything and absolutely NEED groceries and your kids will act like lunatics in the store. When that day comes, I hope for your sake you aren't greeted the same way you greeted me. Luckily for me, you and only 1 other person acted that way toward me. More people gave me looks of "been there done that, keep up the good work" or flat out said "one day it will get better". They said "one day you will miss this, as crazy as that sounds", or "go buy yourself some coffee, you are doing good". I hope when the day comes that your kids act a fool at the store, you are received by more of the latter; because while I do not like that you reacted in that way toward us, I do not wish that on anyone.