Top 5 Tips for Grocery Shopping With Kids

Yesterday I ranted about people continually telling me that I am brave for shopping with both of my kids.  Although I find the comments annoying, it seems like there are some people who think that shopping with kids will be really, really hard.  Based on the biggest concerns I have heard from other moms, their kids' behavior seems to be the biggest worry.  I am not claiming to be an expert or without a bad day, but I have some tricks that I use to make my shopping trips not just doable, but really enjoyable.  So here is my top 5 tip list for being successful at the store. 

5. Bring snacks anytime one of them is tired/cranky/etc. or plan the trip during your child's usual snack time and bring it along with you.  A well fed kid will typically behave better than one that is hungry.  Use a healthy, but easily eaten on-the-go snack (cut up cheese and apple, crackers, etc).  I would advise against giving "treats" or a special snack while shopping (see #2) because otherwise they may expect it every time. 

4. If you have more than one kid, wear one of them.  Not only will this free up space in your cart (if one is an infant) and entertain that child, but you will burn some great calories while shopping.  Since Mr. T can't sit up on his own yet, that usually means I am wearing him.  However, if I am not going to get many items I will keep him in the car seat and wear Superman in the ergo on my back.  He loves it!!

 3. Enlist them to be your helpers.  For Superman, that means he gets to hold a few (none that are breakable or smooshable) items.  He also likes me to give him the item and he drops it into the cart.  Finally at the checkout, he is in charge of the cards.  He gives the checker the store club card and helps me run the credit card through the machine.   If they are older, give the child a calculator and have them keep track of your total spending or have them help decide which kind of cheese, yogurt, etc you will get. 

2. Do not bribe them.  Do not tell them that they will get a treat for behaving and do not let them have the cookie from the bakery.  If you do, they will ask you for it every.single.time and you can't really blame them for trying.  Make the grocery trip about spending time with them and doing something together.  If they are never told they will get something for behaving, they aren't likely to think to ask for something.

1. Do not ignore them.  Seriously, how fun is to have to sit in a cart for who knows how long and the whole time being ignored?  I bet you have all seen a kid screaming "mom, mom, mom" or throwing things on the floor while Mom completely ignores the pleas for attention. While we might not be this bad and we don't mean to, sometimes when we are just trying to get a task done, we turn inward and tune out everything around us.  Try hard not to tune out your kids. 

Take the time to talk with them.  If they are old enough, get their opinions on what you are buying, what meals you might try in the future, or just what they did at school that day.  If they are still young, use the time to sing songs, model decision making ("Let's see, I need olives. This can is $1.99, but this can is $1.09.  I think I will get the cheaper one because it all tastes the same.), or practice a new skill ("What letters do you see?").  And best of all, if they are in the cart, give them lots and lots of hugs!  Superman loves to get hugs and then push off of me and go gliding away.  I run up to catch him and we do it all over again.  I love our little game and we both end up leaving the store in a better mood.

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I can always use more ideas and I feel like I have great tips for right now and for when they are school age, but I am thinking I need some new ones for when Superman is a preschooler.
So what are your tricks for a happy shopping trip? 

Shoe Shopping turned Shopping Spree?

Superman went through a growth spurt recently and needed some new shoes.  We had one pair, but they were lace up and frankly it is hard enough to tie my own shoes with my belly in the way, tying his can be even more difficult.  So I began the process of looking for affordable shoes that would be good for his little feet.  I thought this would be easy.  I was wrong. 

I spent several days going to the stores in my immediate area (Payless, Famous Footwear, Ross, Target, Fred Meyer, etc.) and dragging Superman along with me.  The poor kid would get so mad when we would spend a whopping 3 minutes at a store and get back in the car.  Shoes were either too expensive, too clunky, or not in his size.  I began to get desperate.

So I asked for help where everyone seems to be go for help these days....my personal Facebook account.  The feedback I got was this: (1) shoes are expensive, but it is worth spending the money to get good ones. (2) Stride Rite has the best ones. (3) If you go to the outlets they are cheaper, but same quality.

So with this information we hopped in the car and drove to Washington Square Mall.  (Side Note: I hate malls.  I don't know why really, I mean all the stores in one spot? Awesome.  I guess it is all the people, who apparently don't have to work or go to school just hanging out and getting in my way so that I can't accomplish the 3 things on my list.)  I figured if I could get a pair of shoes for $30 or under, I would settle and be done. 

Yeah, $30 at Stride Rite?  It doesn't get you much.  They did have a sale though (Buy 1, Get One @ 50%) and if I bought two pairs, the cost would come down to $30 a pair.  Not a bad deal, I suppose, but it still seemed so expensive for little shoes.  There had to be a better way.

So that got me thinking about the outlets at Woodburn.  They were only another 30 minutes south of where I was...maybe I could just run down there and save even more money! 

So that is what we did.  We hopped on the freeway and headed south till I hit the Woodburn Outlets...at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, with limited snacks, no milk, and oh, it was pouring rain and I was going to head home in rush hour traffic.  Okay so maybe this wasn't the best plan.

All in all it turned out okay.  I got Superman a pair of sneaker type shoes and a pair of summer shoes (because they had the same sale going on at the outlet) and I saved about $16 on two pairs of shoes (compared to what I would have spent at the regular store).  What I didn't factor in was my strong desire to make the trip "count" so I went scurrying from store to store looking for some good deals before we left.  An extra $100 later I came home with 3 summer shirts, a summer hat, a raincoat and a pair of jeans for Superman and a snowsuit and 2 shirts for Baby #2. 

Please tell me that I am not the only one that does crazy things like this!