Imagine you've run out of milk, and head out for a trip to the grocery store. You have a toddler and a preschooler with you, and it's winter in Grand Forks. First, you start the car so it won't be quite so frigid. Then you begin to bundle the kids - mittens, hat, fleece jacket, mittens again because the toddler pulled them off, winter coat, hat again because the toddler pulled it off, boots, mittens one last time. You pull on your
Uggs and down jacket and carefully cross the icy cement-floor garage with the wiggly toddler. You tug hard on the car doors, which have half-frozen shut and finally get them open. You manage to get everyone buckled and head out on the roads. You find yourself stuck behind an old woman with a 2-wheel drive Buick, going 10 miles per hour on the snowy roads. Piles of snow 4 feet deep line the streets where the plows have come by, and the car heater is nowhere near to blowing warm air. It takes you 15 minutes to make the 7-minute drive to Target, where you once again put the hats and mittens on the kids
and somehow tug and pull and carry everyone and the diaper bag inside. Ah, heaven! Target is the best! You take your time wandering the aisles, sipping a hot chocolate from Starbuck's while the kids munch on popcorn or a free cookie and play with all the toys. You greet the employees who know you
by name and pretend like it's normal to spend this much time in a department store. Once the kids start getting cranky you decide you'd better get your groceries and head home. At last it's all purchased and re-loaded and you've managed to keep either child from falling on their head out of the cart. You start the car from inside the store (completely spoiled by it's auto-start feature), and begin to re-bundle the children. Then it's across the parking lot to the car - easier said than done. The cart is loaded down with two kids and the groceries, and you're trying to push it through 3 inches of snow while slipping around yourself. Finally back at home, the kids want to play in the snow while you unload the groceries, only to wind up crying from the negative-20 degree wind chill. You all hurry inside, change into warm clothes, and snuggle up under a blanket. Only then do you gaze out the window and think how beautiful and peaceful the snow-covered yard is...and did I forget to buy the milk?
Imagine you've run out of milk, and head out for a trip to the grocery store. You have a toddler and a preschooler with you, and it's winter in Grand Forks. First, you start the car so it won't be quite so frigid. Then you begin to bundle the kids - mittens, hat, fleece jacket, mittens again because the toddler pulled them off, winter coat, hat again because the toddler pulled it off, boots, mittens one last time. You pull on your Uggs and down jacket and carefully cross the icy cement-floor garage with the wiggly toddler. You tug hard on the car doors, which have half-frozen shut and finally get them open. You manage to get everyone buckled and head out on the roads. You find yourself stuck behind an old woman with a 2-wheel drive Buick, going 10 miles per hour on the snowy roads. Piles of snow 4 feet deep line the streets where the plows have come by, and the car heater is nowhere near to blowing warm air. It takes you 15 minutes to make the 7-minute drive to Target, where you once again put the hats and mittens on the kids and somehow tug and pull and carry everyone and the diaper bag inside. Ah, heaven! Target is the best! You take your time wandering the aisles, sipping a hot chocolate from Starbuck's while the kids munch on popcorn or a free cookie and play with all the toys. You greet the employees who know you 
by name and pretend like it's normal to spend this much time in a department store. Once the kids start getting cranky you decide you'd better get your groceries and head home. At last it's all purchased and re-loaded and you've managed to keep either child from falling on their head out of the cart. You start the car from inside the store (completely spoiled by it's auto-start feature), and begin to re-bundle the children. Then it's across the parking lot to the car - easier said than done. The cart is loaded down with two kids and the groceries, and you're trying to push it through 3 inches of snow while slipping around yourself. Finally back at home, the kids want to play in the snow while you unload the groceries, only to wind up crying from the negative-20 degree wind chill. You all hurry inside, change into warm clothes, and snuggle up under a blanket. Only then do you gaze out the window and think how beautiful and peaceful the snow-covered yard is...and did I forget to buy the milk?
