I have a confession. If I can help it, I do not take the kids grocery shopping by myself. As they get older, I feel like I could do it; but as it stands right now... I'm afraid of it!
I've had a few horrible experiences. One of them I'll share with you. :)
Missy was about 15 months old.... Maybe 16 months. I was 8 or 9 months pregnant with Titus and was going grocery shopping with her to pick up ingredients to have a fun "make your own personal pizza" night with my parents. At this age, keeping weight on her was an issue and we were constantly needing to feed her and she was seemingly always hungry. So you can imagine what taking a toddler who could, at any point, eat her body weight in food into a place with a TON of food that she couldn't eat was like. I came prepared with snacks and the lady behind the bakery counter also offered her a small cookie. If it meant more food in my arsenal, then I will take it!
I should also note that Ana HATED being in a shopping cart the correct way. Even while strapped in, she would wiggle her way around so that she was on her knees facing away from me in the seat of the cart. We never got great looks from onlookers but constantly turning her around and garnering "make-your-ears-bleed-screams" from her was not my ideal shopping trip either! So often, we let her... as long as she stayed on her knees and did not stand up.
I'm hustling through the store while simultaneously keeping her on her knees, feeding her snacks, grabbing items, and squelching meltdown after meltdown because she could not eat the items that I was putting into the cart.
Half way through the store it happened. I ran out of snacks. I started moving even faster as her meltdowns were growing. Before I knew it, she was flailing herself around in the seat of the cart and screaming those "make-your-ears-bleed" screams that was making EVERYONE in the store not only look over at us but actually come to the aisle we were in to make sure that we were okay! At that point I called my dad. He walked over to the store which was around the corner from their home and took her outside as I quickly grabbed the last few items and checked out.
From then on, I have been terrified to take them BOTH into a grocery store by myself! I can take them to other stores... But NOT a grocery store. Even when the Hubs and I go together it can be a struggle as they fight and kick and hit and want to eat EVERYTHING. When they aren't both toddlers, it will be much different, I hope. :) I'm just going to keep telling myself that. I also have plans to organize our shopping trips better so that the kids are involved. :) It'll take some time, but I'll share once it is all done!
How are your kids in a grocery store? Is there anywhere that you avoid taking them?
Until next time!
~Monica
Haha! Love the story. Had a similar experience and it is truly mortifying. Luckily it happened at check-out so it was a matter of yanking her up off the floor and we were out the door in a jiffy.
ReplyDeleteThese days tho, Tegan loves the grocery. There's one shelf of stuffed animals that she has to stop and hug and kiss each one but besides that we make it thru by pointing out foods and spelling things and looking at the funny looking produce items!
Good luck when you ever do get brave enough to tote the two to the grocery! Id be curious to read your blog post after that event. ;)
Damien is 17 months now. He also hates sitting in the cart the right way. Like Ana he wiggles around and ends up facing away from me on his knees. This doesn't always satisfy him and we started putting him in the bottom part of the car where he stands and most times throws everything back out. But it avoids the horrible "someone is killing me" screams. He does this in every store. Christopher who is 6, likes to spend the time in every store alternating between whining that he is tired and asking for anything and everything. With his adhd and impulse control issues he can get irritating pretty quickly. I will take them to the stores with me but I find that it is best to do most of my larger shopping trips after Topher is in school and dami has just woken up and eaten. He is a happier baby then.
ReplyDeleteDamien is 17 months now. He also hates sitting in the cart the right way. Like Ana he wiggles around and ends up facing away from me on his knees. This doesn't always satisfy him and we started putting him in the bottom part of the car where he stands and most times throws everything back out. But it avoids the horrible "someone is killing me" screams. He does this in every store. Christopher who is 6, likes to spend the time in every store alternating between whining that he is tired and asking for anything and everything. With his adhd and impulse control issues he can get irritating pretty quickly. I will take them to the stores with me but I find that it is best to do most of my larger shopping trips after Topher is in school and dami has just woken up and eaten. He is a happier baby then.
ReplyDeleteHaha! Well, I've always loved grocerie shopping ...and now I find myself not liking it - for obvious reasons !! Lol . Have to start off by saying they always go grocerie shopping with me , yeah sometimes they don't behave too much but no tantrums , guess they're used to it, but they obviously aren't little Angels either . The more we go though , the less I "enjoy it" so I find myself arranging to grocerie shop on weekends so the hubby can stay with them. The other day , while I was in the commissary , he took them and went to the PX with the girls , and when I finished and went to check-out, there was this mom with 2 kids dealing with the same thing you just described with Ana... I swear ... I just wanted to literally cry [for the mom]!! Lol, it's funny because when I didn't have kids I would've thought : "poor kid" but now ... I just feel so sorry for the mom! Haha
ReplyDeleteIt happens to everyone I am sure! I constantly take my kids to any store I need to go to because it is easier for me to just "get it done". We have melt downs a lot, but trying to keep them distracted from the thing they are mad about is the only way I can semi keep them calm. To keep them involved I give them things to put into the cart, and occasionally give them a choice between a few things that they can pick out on their own (cereal or juice or yogurt, mostly). Now Zachary has thrown a wrench into our shopping experiences. He is like Ana. He will not sit in a shopping cart the right way, and no matter how tight the seat belt is he wiggles his way around backwards, and on his knees. We constantly try to fight him on it, but then we get the screams. Now I only go shopping in non-grocery stores with him because I can put him in the stroller with the five point harness. If I do go to the grocery store, then I do end up letting him be on his knees (only if I hold on to him though, or he will try to stand up). Oh goodness. Lol.
ReplyDeleteMunchkin was a charm in the grocery store when she was in her "toddler" stage. She'll be 4 next weekend and she is starting to get to the point where its fairly easy to shop with her again. There for a while, though, I dreaded taking her anywhere! She's never been a kid willing to sit in the cart and would throw fits like you described. When she was smaller I could let her walk behind the cart and hold onto the basket cart to help push and she'd be happy, quiet, and hands on the cart the entire time. She doesn't like to hold onto it anymore. She'll stay close for the most part but getting her to stop grabbing random items and tossing them into the basket saying, "I never had this before" is a struggle that usually results in a meltdown. Its not as bad when its just she and I, but when Man Cub is with is she cranks up. If its just me and him, he'll sleep the whole time I'm in the store (age 1) and I can complete the trip. But if I have both its one thing after another the whole time. Thankfully, Mr Husband understands this and will usually do the big trips on his own while I keep the kiddos at home.
ReplyDeleteI do OK taking them to the food store, I load them into the cart and tell them they need to sit and be good and maybe we will ride the merry-go-round rides afterwards. It doesn't always work but it is better than if we go to someplace like Target or the mall or clothes places! This is a funny post because I just had alone time on Sunday (my parents watched kids) What did I do? Shopped for Zilha and Joel cause the winter clothes they had last year were from the year before (except Joel's pants, I am having to change thosre every year?)So needless to say they were lacking for this cold time. It's just easier to shop w/o them, plus I can look around and hunt for good deals w/o nagging, crying, screaming kids:)
ReplyDeleteRenee W.