We arrived home from Texas and our refrigerator was seriously lacking any type of edible food. I decided that, to avoid having to add another item to my “to-do” list during working hours {aka day time blogging hours}, that I would go ahead and knock it out that evening.
I had just talk to my friend Kelly not even DAYS before when she was leaving Wal-Mart with her 3 munchkins {she just joined the mom of three club} and she was telling me how she had to put everything in her cart BACK…pack up the crew…and head out because 3 kids and a grocery store …just don’t go together.
I laughed.
Not at her. With her, because trust me…I have been there. On.Numerous.Occasions.
I politely told her, “Yea, you should never attempt the grocery store with kids…for any reason. Die of starvation before you do that again.”
Flash forward to the night when we had just arrived home from San Antonio and what did I do? I invited the kids to accompany me to the store.
Dun-dun-dun.
Maybe it was out of guilt. I had just been away from them for 3 days and I was so excited to see them {and them me} that I just knew they would be the most well behaved kids on the planet.
You know, like the ones here who are helping me carry laundry to the bedroom?
Don’t you love how a few days away from your kids makes you grow this huge confidence that somehow they know how to behave in public?
What happened to the previous 87 times I attempted the grocery store and left a hot sweaty mess, dragging one kid by his ear, the other by his shirt collar, nearly in tears because it was THAT awful.
The times where one kid has completely refused to ride in the cart and is now in full blown tantrum mode on the floor of the grocery store. And you would walk and drag him along if it weren’t for the fact that people would judge you.
Trust me…I’ve walked with the leech attached to my ankle…MANY TIMES while in the privacy of my home.
Remember those times Mandy?
Nope.
It’s almost like child birth where you forget all the bad things that happen and then you decide to do it again.
I’m posting this here so that you will remind me that next time I decide to take my kids in public…TELL ME NO. Not until they are at least 12.
I should have known that it was going to be a bad trip when my oldest refused to buckle himself in his carseat {something he clearly, at age five, knows how to do}. However, it didn’t start going downhill until we reached the lunchable isle.
Do y’all hate lunchables as much as me?
I mean, I love the concept, but they need to have the cookies in a separate child-proof container that only opens when the ham, cheese, and crackers are gone. My kids ONLY eat the cookies. Every single time I buy them.
And they BEG me to buy them. Well, this night was no different. I was 3 isles down and Bents already started with the “Wunch-able Wunch-able Mommy!!! Wunch-able!” Which then prompted P to do the same.
Luckily Unfortunately my neighbor {who doesn’t know us that well} was buying lunch meat…you guessed it…right next to the lunchables. You would have thought my kids were being beaten when I told them “No lunchables.”
Screaming. Crying. Kicking.
I was not only slightly embarrassed, but now ticked at myself for thinking that bringing them along was a good idea.
It didn’t stop there though. Bents preceded to reach out of the cart, grab a lunchable, and was holding on for dear life. Of course, then P started crying because Bents had one and he didn’t. But when I tried to take it away from Bents, he began to scream the ugly scream {a lot similar to the ugly cry only worse}. The blood curdling one that you would hear if you were in a haunted house.
By this point, my neighbor lady was just giving me that “Oh, I am so sorry hun” look.
Forget it, give me 5 lunchables and let’s make these children happy for pete’s sake. Actually more for mommy’s sake.
And that’s about how it went down in every isle, for every item that they insisted they “needed”.
When I left my cart was filled with lunchables, oreos, frozen freezer fries, cinnamon rolls, chicken nuggets, cheetos, 3 Reese’s Cups, and 2 toy cars.
Never again.
I need to take my own advice and starve before I do that again.
Do you ever go in public with your children and quickly realize….MISTAKE?!?! Or are you one of those moms that has perfect well-behaved kids? If so…I don’t like you.
What I do is have a little chat with the kids in the car BEFORE stepping foot in the store. We review rules for behaving well and what they can or can’t have in the store. Sometimes we decide together on a treat to share. No crying ,no whining ,or they know they won’t get to come along next time. I tell them we will stop for a treat on way home only if everyone’s behavior is good in the store. Sure, it was tempting to just leave them home and shop alone, but i felt it was more important to take the time to teach them how to behave in public. So far it’s working because I’ve learned you have to follow thru with expectations. If the kids know you will cave in each time because they are embarrassing you in public, they have learned what they need to do to get their way. I know its easier at first to give in but try saying no next time and actually following thru on it. Trust me, your kids will learn quickly to behave much better. Especially if you have consequences for them when they get home like no tv time,no fave toy, etc. My kids respond very well when they lose a fave toy or that rare tv time. Good luck mama. I know for myself being a parent has been the most challenging job I have ever had!
Been there MANY times! KP wants nothing to do w/being in a cart, stroller, wagon, etc so that’s fun. Yesterday I went to Kohls and let her walk b/c it just seemed easier, and there was a mom with a SCREAMING toddler trying to crawl his way out of the cart and she looked so flustered and I just said, “it’s ok” and then she pushed him toward an end cap full of toys to buy her 2.6 seconds to pick out HIS pjs and I could tell she felt like I was judging her and I just said, “no, I GET it, trust me! Do whatever you have to to get through!” and I could tell she was relieved!
I just want to say that I only have 1 & I have thought many times that I never want to take her with me to the store (and this isn’t just the grocery store either). The tantrums are over (she’s 10 now) for the most part but I have to say that it is much easier alone on most days. Oh I also have rules about taking the hubby to the store….the last 2 times he’s gone to get something specific he has spent a ton & come home with a lot of junk we didn’t need (my hips certainly don’t for sure).
So hugs to you! And remember a trip to the store sans kids is a vacation all in itself!
Near the end of summer, the boys and I were having a fun day. I don’t work on Fridays in the summer, so we decided to just play all day. I let them pick where they wanted to eat (Cici’s Pizza) and told them I wanted to stop at TJ Maxx and then we could go swimming. I really think prepping them with the “we’ll look at toys for Christmas, but we’re not buying anything” helped when we were in the store. They were really good while we ate lunch, too, and knew going in that we were eating food before dessert and we weren’t going in the little arcade to waste tons of money on candy. It really was a fun day!
All of our shopping trips aren’t like that though. Take Target last weekend. We went to Target to pick up something for a baby shower, some ingredients for something I was making, and a promised treat for the boys since they’ve been doing so well in school. We had to have that gigantic buggy (shopping cart if you’re not from the South!) that they really have no business making because it’s so hard to steer. The kids kept falling out of said buggy because they were playing. It took about 20 minutes each for them to pick out their treat. Once their treats were picked out, we had the constant “I’m ready to go home” to listen to. They both fell in the parking lot on the way to the car.
No, it wasn’t the best shopping experience in the world, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Even through the chaos and the constant “stop playing because you’re going to fall out” that I felt like I said every 30 seconds, there was fun. The smiles on their faces, their eagerness to pick out a toy for their cousin who is soon to be a big sister, and the excited looks they had when they saw a Halloween onesie they wanted us to get for the baby shower made all the insanity disappear (Not completely, though, since I’m writing about it a week later!).
Oh yea, I can relate. A co-worker of mine once told me, “I knew you were in Walmart because I recognized your daughter’s scream from across the store.” And don’t get me started on the restaurants. We once went out to eat with friends who had the most well-behaved child. Their little girl literally sat in her high chair and brushed her teeth during the whole meal while ours flopped and spun around on the floor under the table. We were just happy she was doing it under the table so we continued to eat and ignored the stares.
Oh my, I only have one 16 month old boy and we’re starting to get to the point where if I take too long shopping, he starts to get antsy, wants to get out and walk around, and he may scream. The endless amount of snacks I pack for any outing work sometimes, but not always. I cannot even imagine handling 3 kids while grocery shopping. I already hate grocery shopping as it is, I think that would make it 5,000 times worse!
I take all three of my boys with me every time. I dont have anyone to watch them so they go every time every week. My one year old and two year old are great its my 5 year old that gives me a hard time. It would be nice to go without them some times but on the other hand I love spending time with them. We always get a free cookies to from are store so thats nice. But yes some times its hard.
Ugh! miserable! I sincerely hope this is not foreshadowing, bc guess what our after nap plan is — grocery store!
I usually go around 9ish at night, but couldn’t muster the energy this week. Wish me luck!
Haha, I’m one of those moms with a perfectly well-behaved child… NOT. She’s starting to hit that tantrum stage, yippy *giant eye roll*. I have no shame taking her to out, though, I figure if I’m calm, she looks like a normal toddler who has breakdowns and if anyone has anything to say I give the “I dare you” look. After all, she has to integrate into society and learn how to behave. I’m kind of anal retentive so I make my list in order across the store so I don’t have to spend more time than necessary. I used to be really embarrassed (a new mom) when she was tiny and seemed to ALWAYS cry in the store! Now, if tantrums continue and escalate, I try to let it roll off. Sometimes I just have no choice; you gotta do what ya gotta do… The toy section is becoming my enemy. I’m sure it’ll be lunchables one day, too. Hang in there momma!
haha I am laughing with you I promise! Not at you. I was just talking to one of my girlfriends today about this exact thing. I am in fact the crazy mom who allows their kid to scream and through an all out fit attached to my leg and I keep walking. Haha horrible I know and everyone in the entire store is looking at me like I am crazy and I beat my children, and all they want me to do is give them something so they will be quiet. and honestly I probably should just to save my own sanity and the other shoppers, but I just can ‘t! Ha I am to stubborn, I leave a hot sweaty mess that is so God awful embarressed letting my kids know all the way to the car that “they are going to get it” haha for throwing a fit, and I tell myself never again will I take them back to the grocery store. but alas the next day we must go back because I forgot half of what I was suppose to get lol… and the ugly cycle continues.. Lord help me and I only have 2 😉
I wonder if there is any mum out there who would say that she has “perfectly behaved kids”. Mine are more like yours and it scares the hell out of me to go with them in the public for I am most of the times I think of the worst happening.
Between hubby and I we are expecting no 8 in a few weeks. And I hate grocery shopping with any more than 2.
Last week, my hubbys kids were here. So 6 kids in the store, and my almost 3yo step son screams his whole way around for donuts and chocolate. Doesnt faze hubby, but I hate it!!
I have this experience with one child!! I am terrified of having this 2nd!
I laughed so hard at this…my two act the same way. I only do it if I seriously have to, as in the baby is out of formula or diapers and I must get more NOW!In Target they grab/touch every single thing we pass. The aisles are only so big and I can’t take up the whole thing to avoid them being in reach of things. Then, the oldest steps on everything I put in the cart. The little one is crying and trying to climb out of the cart…about to fall out on his head. If we don’t walk through the toy section, there is a meltdown…he doesn’t get anything but we must walk through. Then at the checkout, the oldest is trying to push buttons on the credit card machine and pull the pen off…and once again the little one is trying to climb out of the cart and escape!
I can honestly say that I don’t remember my children ever acting up in the stores… Of course, my baby is now 29 and time has a way of dimming the memory!
All I can say is “Hang in there mommas, this too shall pass”. 😀
I smiled and laughed reading this post. I have two girls age 10 and 4, and I go through almost the same things most of the time going to store. I’ve tried it all the pep talk before we go into the store, the leaving the store all-but without fail my kids will be kids. Glad to see that I’m not the only parent who has “well-behaved” kids!!