Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Surviving the Grocery Store with Preteen Boys

I thought I'd try Shannon's Works for Me Wednesdays Carnival.

When my 3 tots were still little tots I taught them to always hold on to the cart as we shopped. That way no one ran out in front of other carts, cars, or simply down the aisle. Now that they've grown A LOT, they still want to hold onto the cart.

You cannot fit down a grocery aisle with two 5 feet plus boys and a smaller sister holding onto the cart.

On the other hand, if I let the boys walk freely, they tend to end up poking, pushing, and annoying each other and me to distraction.

Enter a new idea for grocery store survival.

I give the boys their own list to complete while we're at the grocery store. Our new Bloom has these great smaller carts, and I've laid down the law about acting like a real shopper and not terrorizing other shoppers. I have the boys start at one side of the store, I start at the other with their little sister in charge of my list, and we meet in the middle. The boys might check in with me for clarification on some items, and I give them some choices. Last week they chose to buy fat free hot dogs. Kudos for wanting to be healthy. After trying to eat the fat free hot dogs, they decided they would choose differently next time. A great lesson learned!

I figure there are several perks for this idea.
  • The boys are learning to grocery shop, with supervision.
  • No one screams about going to the store. It's fun for them.
  • We finish in much less time.
  • No wrestling matches down the aisle!!!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think this is a brilliant idea.

Amy said...

Their future wives will thank you someday. My DH and I joke about it, but he does not do well with grocery shopping!