Nobody teaches you how to grocery shop with little kids and I can tell you it is no small task. I had 3 and they came everywhere with me. Since they were homeschooled, they knew how to make their own fun.
There are a lot of stories that begin with “at the grocery store…”.
Like the time the kids took off running with my shopping cart and ran into a display of glass vases all of which went tumbling to the ground and smashed.
Or the times the food hit the floor instead of the cart. There have been dropped and smashed melons, and scattered berries. We have had broken bottles of salad dressing, container of yoghurt and BBQ sauce on the floor.
When I was pregnant with my 3rd, my morning sickness took over while I was standing in line to pay… that was mortifying.
But the most consistent challenge for me has been keeping “extras” from going through the checkout. Since my kids were little they have been making a game of sneaking items through the check out without me noticing.
Unbeknownst to me, this “sneak it through the checkout” game has been going on for years.
My boys recently told me that when they were younger they snuck condoms through the checkout without me noticing. It may have been 10 years later but that story was still mortifying. I can’t imagine what the grocery clerk thought me taking my young boys grocery shopping and buying condoms.
Based on my extensive experience of grocery shopping the 3 best tips I can give you are:
- Don’t take your kids grocery shopping with you.
- If you must take your kids grocery shopping with you, make them sit in the cart and never park your cart within arms reach of the shelves.
- If your children are too big to sit in the shopping cart, then only shop with them during a health pandemic where they keep their hands in their pockets the entire time.
Last night I saw a video on Facebook titled “how to stay safe while grocery shopping.”
I don’t know why they are just releasing this information now… years ago I needed to know.