Does anyone else despise going shopping with children? I used to LOVE to go food shopping before I had children! I'd wander the aisles and take my time picking out all the lovely things I like to eat. Now I race up and down the aisles just throwing in anything I can get my hands on, going as fast as I can because I know that my children have about a 2 minute threshold before they go ballistic. And when this happens, I have about a 1.5 minute threshold before I do the same.
What is it about kids in a grocery store? First, they want EVERYTHING they see. In the psychology world, we call this "pester power". Translation: the amazing and mysterious power that children have to maintain a constant whine while asking for at least 1500 random items while simultaneously driving their parents insane. "Mo-om! Can we get ice cream?" No, we've got some at home. "Mo-om, can we get a giant 20 pound bag of lollipops" I don't think so. "Mo-om can we get some dog food" We don't even have a dog! ARGGGGG!
Secondly, they won't stay in the cart. Yes, I strap them in, but eventually I can't stand the screaming/crying/whining/fighting/death stares from other grocery patrons so I let them out. BIG mistake. Now they can get their hands on the ice cream/lollipops/dog food so I end up spending more time taking things out of the cart than putting things in! Plus, they now have a great need to hang all over the cart. Climb in, climb out, climb in, climb out, fall on head, cry, climb in, climb out, and on and on! Right! Strap the kids back in, and bring on the screaming/crying/whining/death threats from other patrons.
We've tried it all: sitting in the "fun" car shopping cart, bringing toys, giving snacks, letting the kids help pick things out. Nothing seems to work!
Finally, we make it to the finish line....er...check out line and pay. Both kids want to push the buttons to enter my pin, so I end up putting it in 3 separate times. Finally, get all my bags, run out to the parking lot and throw the bags in the car. Phew! One giant sigh of relief.
But here's the kicker. Through this fiasco we call "grocery shopping" I've managed to forget the milk/bread/eggs that I originally went to the store to buy. So we have to do it all again tomorrow!
Though I do have a 40 pound bag of dog food if anyone needs it.
I read this out loud to my sister, and she was giggling through the whole thing because I know she can relate. We had a good laugh about the dog food, because that is all too familiar...from when we were the kids with the power! The cycle is now coming around to bite us in the bottom and get us back for causing my mother many a death glares from other customers!!
ReplyDeleteHaha! This reminds me of my family grocery shopping! I feel so bad for my mom because we were a nightmare! I'm glad to see that you are human, even as an amazing professor that studies family life! Oh the joys of being a mom! :)
DeleteHahaha...you think death-glare customers would just lighten up! I mean, it's not as if the fact that kids are noisy should be new to anyone... Do any grocery stores here to home delivery? My mom just used to order hers online from Tesco for real cheap. No crying kids, no death glares, and opening the groceries when they came was like Christmas! Tesco wins again! Did you shop at Tesco in England?
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