Ooooh, Shiny...

I am far too easily distracted. While it's not so much a true case of ADHD, it is definitely an "Oooooh, shiny!" sort of situation regardless of what I happen to be doing at the moment. Mother used to say insanity was hereditary--- one gets it from one's children. While insanity is technically a legal term rather than a psychiatric one, I do notice than my ability to concentrate has diminished progressively with the birth of each child. The level of distraction is exacerbated by large crowds of people or objects grouped together in one location.
My spouse remarked on the progressive aspect of this odd form of what may be dementia pointing out that my Mammy (My cousin named her well before I ever came along.) could cruise a megamart or craft store for hours as she inspected each item proffered for sale. K-Mart was especially exciting as we were called to assorted spots all over by the siren call of the fabled "blue light special". My Papa wisely opted to sit in the car chewing a cigar and reading a Louis L'Amour western or doing a word puzzle. My mother "runs" into a store after one or two items to emerge thirty or forty minutes later with many things which may or may not include the original target. With each year of age we all seem to get a little slower, and a lot more interested with all the pretty packages and varying price tags. The advent of price scanners to confirm prices have only added to the level of interest and adventure to in store for one. My Dad has taken to staying in his truck on more and more occasions or visiting other areas of the store. My own husband vacillates between just rolling along with my wandering way and roving eye and pushing on toward our original shopping goal. Sometimes he just stays home.
For a truly impressive marathon trip, let any combination of my mother, auntie, or my middle daughters and I loose in a store or shopping mall. We can all wander for hours. With entry into a retail location, any one or all of us can enter the land that time forgot. (It's really quite a talent.)I'm quite sure the odd trance-like sense of relaxation as we trundle along behind a cart or meander along admiring the lovely what-nots in windows or on racks is reducing our collective risk of stroke, high blood pressure, and heart attack. It's an odd sense of unreality and relaxation. Some of the ladies have a compulsive need to purchase on these little excursions while others are entirely content to browse a bit while window shopping.