Grocery Shopping Torture

I knew it had to happen. I was having entirely too much luck with my grocery shopping. Yesterday, Jack had been sooo good. The past 3 trips Zena checked out and slept. I was even beginning to feel a little smug (never a good thing) about my skilled parenting and well behaved children. I should have known that it couldn’t last.

Our shopping trip started out well. Zena was passed out in her bucket seat, Jack sat in the shopping cart. He insisted on sitting in the front child’s seat that faces me (I usually put Z’s bucket there, but that was fine. I just had to juggle the coupon book as I shopped. I was so organized, this trip was going to be short and sweet. In and out. I had my list, I had my coupons. No problem. Until...

...Zena decided to have a melt down in the store. Ok, no biggie. I took her out of the bucket and held her. Normally I would put her in my sling and carry on, but all the slings are in my husbands car at the moment (don’t ask. I have no idea why!) Besides she’s not even 10 pounds so holding her is no big deal. However, that brought me down to 1 hand to push the cart, shop, and handle coupons, but hey, I’m an Amazon! I can handle anything! She nestled into my neck and calmed down, “Excellent!” I thought. So we continued.

Then Jack decides that he’s tired of sitting in the kid seat and wants to walk. Ok, that’s fine. That’s great actually, because now I can move Z’s bucket up to the front seat and have more room for my groceries. So we pause a moment while I rearrange everything. I set the sleeping Zena into her bucket and we start down the next aisle. About 3 steps in, Zena realizes that she’s not being held anymore and begins to fuss, at about the same time, Jack decides he simply MUST sprint down the aisle at full speed. And that was just the opening ceremony to what would become Jack's Grocery Store Olympics.

Yes folks, I was that lady at the grocery store today that you either hate or love. Hate, because her devil spawn are wreaking havoc and disturbing YOUR shopping trip. Love, because you’ve been there, done that and at least it’s not you... this time. If I asked Jack once, I asked him 27 times, to get up off of the floor, while I held a fussy baby that wouldn’t stop squirming.

Again, normally, I would have baby in a sling, and I’m so sling savvy that I could have nursed Zena, without anyone being the wiser, AND finished my shopping trip. Or I could have tied the sling around my son, who was suffering from selective hearing loss, to keep him in tow.

So I did the only thing I could do, we left. I had intended to use my 20 allotted daily coupons for Super Triples week at Harris Teeter, but alas only used fourteen. Still, I did VERY well - shopping wise, spent $36.41 and saved $62.41!

If you want to become as coupon savvy as I am, I strongly recommend you check out the Southern Savers blog at http://www.southernsavers.com

If you want to share your ‘Shopping with Kids’ horror stories I would really, really, love to hear them.