Do you dread shopping with your toddler? I remember once having an accident in that A & P where my mother used to take me. I was having a bit too much fun scooting around with the grocery cart, and I fell and got a bloody lip. I still have the scar, so when I see children standing up in grocery carts, I always want to say something to the parents.
Taking a two-year-old to the store can be a series of disasters, especially if you just expect the child to sit quietly in the cart and not embarrass you in public. It can also be a tremendously educational and entertainment experience, if you plan it well, but it takes more than just a shopping list. A little creativity can go a long way. So does a little talk before you leave the house about what kind of behavior is appropriate or inappropriate in public and what rewards a child can earn by behaving appropriately. Maybe you have one of those "rewards card" things the supermarkets give out to encourage customer loyalty. You could create a rewards card to keep track of for your child's good behavior. As for customer loyalty, though, I would suggest mixing it up and shopping at different stores sometimes. That way your child can learn about choices and competition and get a better understanding of the community in which you live.
It helps to plan ahead, decide what you're going to serve for dinner for the week, and shop accordingly. If you can plan the week's meals around foods that are on sale, you can save some money. Walking into the store with a list lets you save time, and it lets you show your child how business-like and in charge you can be. Let your child have some input in creating the shopping list. As I've said before, you can negotiate over the questionable items. That way, you can not only help your child develop problem-solving skills, but also get some behavioral concessions out of your child. Don't be afraid to say, "Cookies aren't very good for us. How about some fruit instead? Or a trip to the library?"
Try to schedule your trip to the store after a nap and meal so the child isn't too cranky, and take along some emergency supplies, like snack food in your own container or a small toy on a tether. As for feeding your child food from the store before paying for it, yes grapes and snap peas are healthier than m&m's, but remember you're setting an example, right? A very small child won't understand the difference between unit pricing and bulk pricing. It's a good idea to avoid shopping on an empty stomach, because then you'll be less likely to waste time and buy junk you don't need on impulse.
Of course everybody needs to eat. Once you're in the store, you can use your need for food to strengthen all kinds of educational skills and teach all kinds of lessons,depending on the age of the child, from reading readiness to vocabulary, colors, shapes, math, money, economics, geography, health, nutrition, self-discipline, social skills, and decision making. Depending on the age of the children, you can assign them "jobs" like finding the apples or letting you know whether the flat green vegetable you're looking at is a carrot or not. You can compare prices between brands. If you take a little world map along, you can note where the bananas, blueberries, kiwi fruit, and all the other foods come from.
When my children were very young, my husband and I used to go shopping in the evening and make it a family affair. We would take turns, one of us pushing the cart with the baby in it, while the other one took our toddler on a walk through the aisles. I decided a three-year-old would do less damage in the toilet paper and fabric softener aisles than in the spaghetti sauce and pickle aisles. We made a game of counting all the babies and teddy bears we saw on all the product packaging. It got us out of the house, it kept the kid busy, and it helped her get some math practice. Furthermore, it was a way to avoid arguments ("What do you mean, you forgot to get dish detergent?" "You didn't tell me what kind of lettuce you wanted!", etc.) or paying a babysitter, or spending an evening as couch potatoes.
If you have another adult, or another child old enough to walk around the store without supervision, you can even make it a family game night and organize teams for a scavenger hunt.
- Let's see if we can find something in a big blue box that has the first letter of your name on it.
- Now let's look for something we want to eat for breakfast, and it's shaped like circles.
- Next, we need something in a round box, and it has a picture of a man in a big hat on it.
- How about something good to drink that doesn't have high fructose corn syrup in it?
- And when we've got everything on our list, we'll meet Mommy by the orange juice.
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