I finally broke down and did it......

Our trips to the grocery store are becoming more and more difficult the older that Miss Independent gets. I try to make these trips as fast as possible, but let's face it, sometimes you just need to load up on all of those snacks, frozen items, etc. that you don't need on a weekly basis. I can usually keep her content with her bowl of bushies (goldfish), but that only lasts until around the 4th aisle when Grace wants to start opening everything I put in the cart.

Kroger usually has samples around the produce and deli areas. The samples can range from apples and pineapple to cheese, ham and olives. Grace starts saying, "apples, Mommy" as soon as we pull into the parking spot so you can bet I say a little prayer that we'll walk in and see those waiting for us! Believe me I know it's going to be a good day when Kroger has their apples out....it's the little things in life people! :) You see I can get two pieces of the apples and that tends to last Grace until the midway point of our shopping trip. At that point, I'll call an intermission, run back over to the produce, get one more sample, and finish our trip without too many problems.

And then there are the days when Kroger has NO samples at all!! Grace's reaction can range anywhere from completely fine to "Mommy hold you" as soon as we hit the produce section......NOT GOOD!!

Enough rambling and onto the point I'm trying to make. Like any other grocery store, Kroger has the carts with the car attached for kids to ride in. Grace sees them and points them out every time we're there. However, I was VERY hesitant about letting her get in one since I knew there would be no going back to the "regular" shopping cart. Well today was a day that I needed to load up on all the extra groceries and I knew it would be a long shopping trip. I decided to break down and let Grace try it out. Before all you germaphobic family members and friends cringe at the thought of letting your child ride in one of these, please know that I wiped down the entire car with Lysol wipes! Now just take a deep breath! :) Much to my surprise, there was a seatbelt in the car!! YES, she couldn't escape!! She did great until we got to the soup aisle and I heard the dreaded, "down Mommy" coming from the car! I had to start pulling out some Indy 500 moves to keep her entertained, but overall she did pretty good. So what if she didn't eat a good lunch due to the bushies, pineapple, and Cheerios she ate while shopping. And maybe Grace was even laying completely sideways yelling, "down, Mommy, down" by the time we finally paid. It could've been worse, right!?!?

My next approach is to let Grace walk and use the mini-carts that are perfect for her size. However, I'm sure our shopping trips will get at least an hour longer and cost quite a bit more (after she starts putting all kinds of goodies in her cart) after we start that! :) I'll keep you all posted on how that goes!