grocery shopping with children

I usually go grocery shopping at night when the boys have gone to bed. It is the only time when I can go alone. The advantage to going to the supermarket in the evening is that I am usually there with just 2 or 3 other shoppers. Mostly moms like me, or college students going on an emergency rum, chips and m&ms trip.

I was feeling adventurous last week and decided to go with Luca and Andre. Actually, Alain was on his guys-night-out and my fridge was empty. So it all started out well enough, and the boys behaved pretty well. The trip ended rather stressfully, however. The cart almost toppled over with the boys inside, we left some smushed cheese on the floor by the cash register, and there were 2 very impatient customers in line behind me at the self-checkout who did not think that Luca and Andre scanning the groceries was cute. I forgot a few things and also crashed into a cart because I was distracted. I am not sure that I was looked kindly upon by anyone.

So I left the grocery store wondering how to feel about the experience. After all, Luca and Andre learned about where their milk comes from (milk jugs at the grocery store, of course!), practiced weighing produce and scanning items, made friends with another boy who was accompanying his mom, and overall had a wonderful time which ended with some Hot Wheels cars as rewards for good behavior. So do I leave feeling good about the great experience that my children just had, or bad about the overall disruptive state of our presence at the store.

How do you view situations like these?