I must confess that I kind of enjoy going grocery shopping with Mr 4. Now before you completely write me off as gone round the bend let me explain.
I receive my centrelink payments on a Friday (I have them staggered so I receive a payment each week instead of each fortnight) and Mr 4 goes to daycare on a Friday so I do have the opportunity to do the shopping on my own, I just choose not to. I usually do my shopping on a Sunday afternoon or a Monday, with Mr 4 along for the ride.
I don’t have a license so we take a taxi to the shopping centre. Mr 4 talks about the trucks and different cars we see on the way. He gets well on his way to the average 400 questions a 4 year old asks in one day. We usually head over around lunch time and he is happy with the promise of a hotdog after the groceries are finished.
Our first stop is to get a trolley, my number one tool in keeping the grocery trip stress level to a minimum. Mr 4 is too big for the seat up front, believe me we’ve tried and the result would have been comical if it happened to someone else. So he sits in the main area of the trolley, he takes up most of it but it keeps everyone happy.
The part of the grocery shopping that I love the most is involving Mr 4 in the process of picking the food. We go through each section talking about the different foods and how we use them. I let him pick the things he has for his snacks, offering a choice between two things so that he doesn’t become overwhelmed.
I love talking about the different fresh produce and how we can use them in our meals. It doesn’t always mean that he will eat the things that we talk about but it means that he is aware of them and the part they play in the food I make. I also usually buy something easy for dinner the night I do the groceries so I involve him in picking what we have.
I enjoy the time we spend together, him learning and me teaching. I enjoy this time when I am the smartest person he knows, because before long he will be telling me that he learned these things all on his own. He may drive me up the wall a lot of the time, but I love him and I love his quirky ways of thinking.
We finish off our grocery trip with sushi for me and a hotdog for him. A trip home in the taxi and carrying all the bags in, in one trip because 2nd trips are for losers 😉
Do you enjoy shopping with your kids? What do you do to help make the trip a little be easier for everyone involved?
Linking up with Kirsty for I Must Confess.
I really enjoyed this post Tegan – especially the line where you are soaking up being the one with all the answers for him. I enjoy one-on-one time with my kids and Delilah, who’s nearly 4, is a great companion too when shopping. But I have learned from experience that I can’t go shopping with all three – there’s no enjoyment in that for any of us!!!!
I think it is great that you do as kids learn so much doing that. I remember when mine were smaller I used to take them shopping all the time. They would ask questions and learn so much. Even though they are almost grown now, they still remember that.
Very gorgeous moments there with your curious boy. I must confess I hate grocery shopping with or without kids. There are much better things I would rather doing. I can never get it together to have a regular shopping day and sometimes do it online to avoid it all together. I have no doubt your little boy will have fond memories of those days shopping with his mum.
I don’t mind shopping with one of my boys but with three of them it’s madness. The older two are much more helpful with things like shopping now but Mr 5 just wants to head for the lollies. It’s good that you like explaining things to your Mr 4, though. I have to admit I get too stressed and confused with all the choices to do much explaining.
Hubster does the shopping in our household, ably assisted by our daughter Miss 17 🙂
At the moment we do the shopping together and I’ll push her in the pram and he’ll push the trolley. I’ve bought a trolley cover for the seat though, but haven’t been brave enough to go do the entire shopping by myself with her yet. I take her by myself for little bits and bobs though and either carry her or put her in my wrap.
When the gremlins were tiny, if we were having a rough day I used to take them to the supermarket because I could guarantee that all the little old ladies would fuss over them – I’d be reminded of the cool stuff about having twins, and I’d feel less inclined to sell them to the gypsies. These days I try to avoid taking all 5 at once, altho truth be told it’s really only Chiara that’s an issue as she sees the bright lights, pretty colours and shelves of sugar in Aldi and starts bouncing off the walls.
I enjoy just having 1 with me, the baby as he just sits in the trolley, the 3 year old as he can be a good help and the 5 year old as he reminds me of what we need. All 3 together drives me nuts!! I have been doing the big shop on a Sunday morning lately by myself as time is too valuable at the moment to be taken up with the shopping. I have also been online shopping more and more.
Great post!!
I don’t like shopping with ALL my children, or with some individuals, but there are a couple that I like to take with me. It is a nice opportunity to chat and share one on one time, to give them responsibility and have their input. It seems like you have the trip down pat, as to how to make it work. Well done. It is so great when you can enjoy these little moments of mothering.
What a wonderful real life learning experience you are providing for your son! One that I am sure he will remember for years to come!! I am often puzzled when I see Mothers doing their grocery shopping after school with school aged children in toe fighting and arguing and wonder why she just doesn’t do it before she picks them up, yours sounds like a much more enjoyable experience!
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