Grocery Shopping With Our Toddler
"We’re Staying home. Buuuuut, I NEED to go somewhere!"
This is the current predicament we’re all living in, am I right?
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Rethink, Reinvent, Revisit, Repeat
Shoot! Re-EVERYTHING these days! It all means the same and it leads to one keyword…CHANGE.
Since grocery shopping has turned into the highlight of our "staying home, but I NEED to go somewhere" days. And, since this pandemic of 2020 looks like it also ain’t going away on vacation for a while…
We decided to take a different approach with the traditional baby strapped to the shopping cart, grocery experience. I had us bring our child’s own shopping cart (somehow we have 3 and she uses all of them) to the supermarket. I’m quick to say, this idea is not for everyone. Take it at your own risk. Some moments of anxiety may or may not appear. But, overall I feel it’s totally worth it. Besides, what parent isn’t a victim of the surges of anxiety from toddlerism? We got this!
First off, shopping carts are gross. I know I can’t be alone on this. When I absolutely have to use one with Frankie, I use this seat cover that is made of a stretchy fabric and you just stretch it over the handles and back rest of the seat on the cart. It’s one of my top favorite baby shower registry gifts!
Now, that she’s a toddler and has ants in her pants, it’s hard to get her to sit in the seat for the entirety of the supermarket run. So, I’ve tried to sit her in the main part of the shopping cart and to no surprise she is standing up, leaning over the cart rails, going through the groceries, and grabbing everyone’s attention in a not pleasant way. And, I mean, who cares, what anyone thinks or says, right? I agree, except for when it comes to the safety of our child or some unnecessary extra task. I have been given the she’s about to throw the carton of eggs on the floor look, while I took the millisecond to grab something else off the shelf, and it has come in handy. Case and point the main compartment of the shopping cart is a no go these days, and if I can avoid having to place her in the child seat part I’m taking the opportunity.
The other reason that gave me the impulse to grab her shopping cart and load it up in the trunk on our way to our local Apple Farm Market, was that she absolutely L.O.V.E.S. to pick her own produce and place it in the cart. This means, each time Devin or I have to pick her up, so that she can reach over and drop it in. Can you imagine doing that over and over again on top of everything else? I do want to continue encouraging her to pick our produce out because she’s learning so much from it. My thought process was that she can place the items in her own cart much easier. Eventually, we’d transfer it over to the big people shopping cart. So, in theory and without going into teacher vocab mode (this is not that kind of blog), I feel like we actually enhanced her experience by making it more real for her. If that makes sense.
However, it was somewhat of a pain in the tush because pushing the cart was now a shared activity between her and I. But again, overall it was totally worth it.
Here’s why:
She got a kick out of it.
We got a kick out of it.
Other shoppers and supermarket employees got a kick out of it.
It made us happy to make someone else smile and laugh a little whilst watching our child strolling around the supermarket like a real shopper.
She got to interact with other people, which I feel we don’t get enough of these days.
It kept our toddler from jetting away from us because she was pushing her own cart.
She’s learning to be independent and gaining survivor and many other skills.
Grocery shopping is not just the mission of the day, it’s a family fun outing.
Less chances of her getting germs we don’t want.
By the way, remember in Home Alone when, Macaulay Culkin went grocery shopping on his own? Yep, I want Frankie to be able to do the same. Because, you just never know.
Products Mentioned:
Car Seat Canopy Nursing Cover - Multi Use Baby Stroller and Carseat Cover, Breastfeeding Nursing Covers, Boys and Girls Shower Gifts (Classical Arrows): https://amzn.to/3tmxBH9
Little Tikes Shopping Cart - Yellow/Red: https://amzn.to/3aqwPjS
Little Tikes Cozy Shopping Cart Red/Yellow: https://amzn.to/36xFU9q
Minnie Happy Helpers Bowtique Shopping Cart Pink: https://amzn.to/3av8Q2T
XOXO, Stells
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