Surviving the Grocery Store

I use to never go to the grocery store if I had Chloe with me. I would either wait until Jeremy got home or I would have him go out of his way to the store for me. It isn't so much that I hate the grocery store, I just hate trying to shop and keep control of my toddler at the same time. Chloe is too active and hands on to just sit nicely in a cart while I get things done. She wants to run down the aisle, push the cart (into people) or be somewhere other than where I am! And I absolutely HATE hearing, "Mommy, I want that. I want this. Mommy...." But I have found a couple of tricks that work and make it much more bearable! One of the first is Fred Meyer. Yes, I will pay more for my groceries or miscellaneous items but they have a play center that I can drop Chloe off and do my shopping alone. What a brilliant idea! A little extra spent is worth saving my sanity! The only downfall to this is that the kids have to be a certain age. So this didn't work until Chloe was old enough to stay. But another great trick I found was a game of I Spy. Even toddlers can play this. It is also a great reminder for the things you need! Pretty much every grocery store has a ad flyers at the store or in the mail. I give Chloe the ads and we "look" for the items. We cross them off as she finds them throughout the store. If I know in advance I have to take Chloe with me, I make a shopping list with pictures from the ads in the mail. Then we search for the items on our list. Chloe's mind stays occupied with something to do, her attention stays on the list because we are searching for so many different items and her little tush stays planted in the cart! It's a win-win!!