Walmart and Whiners
I know
most moms have probably perfected the art of grocery
shopping with young kids. But I know there are some who
have not . We have all seen kids crying, and moms yelling.
I was astounded the other night after a date my husband we
went to Walmart and it was around 10 o clock at night and
there were a ton of people at Walmart with lots of little
kids! I just could not help thinking they should be home
and in bed.
I also
know that most moms do not stay at home and have as much
free time as I do to go grocery shopping. But here are a
few ways to make the whole grocery shopping trip with kids
easier. We all have to do it, but it does not have to be a
hair-splitting-kids-crying-migraine-achieving- trip.
Plan
your shopping excursion for when you and your kids (and
you!) are fed (babies changed) and well rested. Also make
sure everyone has eaten before you leave. Plus you should
bring drinks and snacks, this will save onimpulse items.
Just a bag of pretzels and a few Capri Suns, or something
small to tide the kids over. Their is nothing worse than a
kid whining “I am hungry!” and having complete strangers
giving you dirty looks as if you starve your kid, the one
who ate an entire sandwich, yogurt, a banana and crackers
just before you left the house.
Go
shopping at a time when it is not so busy, usually morning
time, the stores are fairly empty. Never go full on
grocery shopping at a Walmart on a weekend!
Bring a grocery list and look
over it a few times before you get to the store. This will
help those easily forgotten items. ( For me it is always
trash bags!)
Look over your coupons and the
newspaper adds before you go, so you are aware of what
coupons you might be using and it will be fresh in your
mind.
Bring toys to entertain kids. For
me I bring a Gameboy for my 5 year old. He will sit in the
back of the cart about half the time and play his Gameboy.
It makes everything go smoother. It helps getting by the
cereal aisle without him begging for Buzz Lightyear
cereal. For my baby it does not matter what toys I bring
he will not play with them, he would rather throw them. I
just bring lots of snacks. That makes him happy.
Consider all the grocery stores
in your area. Go to the one that is the kid friendliest
and cheapest. Or pick which you value more! We have a
store near us called Harris Teeter that is
super-kid-friendly. They have just purchased some shopping
carts that are normal size carts, with the front end being
a car that kids can get in and drive. It has seat belts
and the bottom has a little rack so they won’t slide out
the bottom, or lose anything. This store also has free
helium balloons and free cookies for kids. This store is a
moderately/high priced store that I would probably not go
to otherwise, but because the car cart, the balloons, and
the cookies entertain the kids while I am shopping, makes
it very convenient. This store also has convenient
shopping spaces marked for people with children or
expectant mothers, right near the shopping cart return,
and close to the store. Overall this is the easiest store
to shop with kids in. I hope you have stores near you that
are this kid friendly, if not maybe you should move to
Nashville!
If your kids are old enough to
help, enlist their help. They can get items off the bottom
shelves for you or help you put food on the conveyor belt.
I always ask my five year old to play with they baby when
he starts getting cranky, it helps when I am trying to put
food on the conveyor belt.
If
you use a lot of coupons you may want to consider using
your coupons at night when your hubby can watch the kids.
For me, I have found that between trying to get everything
on my list and dealing with the kids, it makes the
shopping so much more tedious. I almost always forget to
give one or two coupons to the cashier and there is
nothing more annoying than realizing that you bought
something that you had a coupon for and didn’t get the
discount.
Give yourself plenty of time,
don’t grocery shop at 10:30 if you’ve got to be somewhere
at 11:30. Remember that kids will inconceivably have to
pee five minutes after you have left the bathroom and are
on the opposite side of the store. You most likely will
just happen to get in the line that has the slowest
cashier, and the person in front of you will have an item
that needs a price check. Allow for things like this, and
then it will make it so much easier to get through the
whole experience without getting a migraine! You might
even find that you enjoy the experience! Happy Shopping!
