For the past few months, I’ve been venturing into Target…the grocery store…Hobby Lobby…from time to time with the girls...sans stroller.
If I only need a couple of smaller things, I get a hand basket, and the girls now know to walk one in front of the other, each holding onto the basket. Granted, we look like a lopsided centipede, but the girls know the routine, and I can usually manage the trip without having to medicate myself.
On Friday, we needed just a couple of things for our Valentine’s party, and so the girls and I headed into Walmart, planning to use the hand basket method for the first time there.
We walked in to a crowd of Valentine’s Day shoppers (even at 10:00 on a Friday morning)…and found, to my great dismay, no hand baskets.
Ack!!! What to do???
I needed those Valentine’s Day cupcakes. I couldn’t let A and B each carry a box, for fear they’d drop them. There was no way I could hold their hands and get the goodies. And there’s NO WAY I’m letting their hands go in Walmart, of all places!
So I made a quick decision to try the girls pushing a shopping cart.
To my great surprise, they did great!
They walked alongside each other, their hands stretched high above to reach the handle of the cart. I walked behind them, my hands on top of theirs, steering.
I haven’t quite figured out the appropriate reference…perhaps we were still a centipede, not quite as lopsided…but still moving pretty awkwardly, for sure.
But at least we were a cute centipede, the girls in their coordinating hoodies, skinny jeans, and boots. We might have enjoyed a few (or 20) compliments from the over-50 crowd who was shopping that morning, too.
We procured our cupcakes, and managed to pick up quite a few more items we needed at home. The only challenge was when I needed to make any more detailed selection, like in the produce department. The girls didn’t fully grasp the concept of standing still with the cart…I got rammed a couple of times as I was bending over the bin of lemons.
Still, I call our shopping trip a success! The girls won’t be pushing the cart for any major grocery shopping for a while…but at least I know I can save my panic attack for another occasion if the store happens to be out of hand baskets.
Ticker
9 comments:
Hooray for you! Your little girls are so well behaved - I'm sure you'll be shopping cart pros in no time! Don't you wish everyone had double carts like Sam's/Costco?
Yay!!!! It's such a great feeling when you can go out with them in a public place and not completely lose your sanity.
I'll never forget the first time I took the kids to Target by myself without the stroller. It was the best feeling knowing I could handle it!!
Big step forward. I just love those carts with the car and steering wheels.
I'm the opposite! I worry if there ISN'T a cart to use! J&S are no trouble at all any more but Adam can be N-A-U-G-T-H-Y in the store - running off and around and not listening. I always give him the option to walk but he almost always ends up IN the cart b/c he gets in trouble for running off!
Glad you had another successful trip!
oh...we also made a WalMart run the other day - just J&S and I. They'd had "Western" day at daycare that afternoon and both were decked out in vests and cowboy hats. We sure got a LOT of comments that afternoon about their hats and get-ups! Everyone thought they were really cute. :-)
I'm the opposite! I worry if there ISN'T a cart to use! J&S are no trouble at all any more but Adam can be N-A-U-G-T-H-Y in the store - running off and around and not listening. I always give him the option to walk but he almost always ends up IN the cart b/c he gets in trouble for running off!
Glad you had another successful trip!
oh...we also made a WalMart run the other day - just J&S and I. They'd had "Western" day at daycare that afternoon and both were decked out in vests and cowboy hats. We sure got a LOT of comments that afternoon about their hats and get-ups! Everyone thought they were really cute. :-)
Oh, the day...
You give me hope!
Mandy that is awesome! So brave to try that. I don't even want to imagine what it would look like if I took my boys in a store like that...it would be crazy for sure. We're still using a stroller.
Thanks for letting me know that you stopped by my blog! I've recently written about my shopping trials as well! I guess it's not going to get any easier! I ALWAYS get comments when I have my kids in Walmart because of the way I hook my stroller up to the cart!
Can both girls not fit into the basket part of the carriage? I never use my stroller in a store-- where would I put the stuff I am buying? I usually put both girls inside the carriage basket or one in the basket and one in the seat part. Or if I am getting a lot of items, I put one in the carriage seat and wear one on my back. My girls are petite so maybe I've lost perspective on how big 3 year olds actually are! It seems like everyone finds a different way that works for them and I'm glad this worked out for you!
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