how do you handle grocery shopping?

I just dropped the kids off to preschool & I'm working on my weekly meal plan. I'm debating whether I have enough time to get my groceries before they're done or wait & take them with me. I haven't taken them grocery shopping by myself in over a year...last time was a horrible experience! I just might have to bite the bullet & take them with me....but I'm dreading it. It usually takes about an hour to get the week's groceries. On the other hand, they're older now & might enjoy trying to help me. What do you do when it's grocery time?

 

My DH goes on Sunday afternoons. I have never taken the kids grocery shopping with me. ardon: I don't have to, my DH is home early enough if we need to run during the week for something quick and he always does our weekly shopping on Sunday or another day (he prefers to go). I'm definitely not complaining about that.

 

I take my girls grocery shopping all the time. If we go to BJs they have double carts and I get them a soft pretzel and they 'help' me by 'reading' the items off the lists (I give them each their own to hold). If we go to the regular grocery store and the one and only car cart (that holds two kids) isn't available, one sits in the front of the cart and the other in the back, and then I also carry a basket too. But for major shopping that doesn't work because the kid in the back will be buried in groceries!

 

We feed them all through the grocery trip. We will buy some muffins, baguette, cheese or lunch meats or something or we'll bring our own little snack and feed them as we go through the store (if we eat something from the grocery store, it is not something that is paid for by weight like fruit, so we can still pay for it at the end). It takes care of snack time AND grocery shopping all at once. 95% of the time it is magical for us, though you still have to make the shopping trip as fast as possible.

Maybe for your first time taking them you could go get half the groceries (non-perishables that can sit in your car) on your own while the kids are in preschool and then go back with the kids for a quick trip for the rest of the stuff. This would give you a short, trial run to see how it goes.

 

I take them sometimes. I only go to stores that have double carts when I take them unless I just need a few things and they can both sit in the cart and I put everything underneath. But for a big trip for a week's groceries it would have to be a double cart.

I feed them through the store. I always take snacks and some sort of special snack for the end when things can get really unruly (fruit bites, cookie, etc).

I have to have a plan (list) and know the store so that I can do it relatively quickly. I do not read labels or compare prices much when they are with me. I've been shopping with them since they were big enough to situp in the double cart and it keeps getting better and better. We talk about the food and signs and balloons. I try to make it as fun as possible and sometimes we even have fun.

 

My two LOVE the grocery store. :unsure: They ask almost daily to go. ardon: It's a fun place! I let them help me out, they know all the things we usually get and LOVE to put them in the cart and even do check out. If they get tired, I usually take the car cart and they like to play in there. :good: Definitely give it a try and see how it goes! Good luck!

 

My two also love the grocery store. It's probably my least favorite chore to do, so usually when we go, it's a whole family excursion. DH does not mind, he does most of the cooking (a good thing for our family, because he is fantastic at it), so it helps him to plan his meals out. I will take them solo if I have a few things to pick up and can put a little basket on top of the stroller (I'm not always guaranteed a double cart when we shop) and always take them to Sam's Club solo because they do have the double carts there.
I agree with Liz, give it a try and see how it goes. Maybe make the first trip one where you only have to pick up a few things and then go for larger orders. Good luck!

 

well, luckily dh ended up getting off work early today & has the kids...I'll be heading out shortly. Grocery shopping for the week is a big deal for us since we live about 35 min from the grocery store....you can't forget anything b/c there's not really a short trip back. We do have a closer market but they mark their stuff up about 3x the price it should be. If I have to run down there to get something for dinner, it's cheaper to eat out. :unknw:

Ah, well....better planning next week!

 

Well for us it's pretty easy, if I go alone I either use the stroller and pull a cart or use the double carts (unfortunately my favorite grocery store doesn't have them)... my kids are really good for now, but they're 2 years younger... ask me again in 2 years!

 

DH shops at night after they go down to bed. Grocery shopping with 4 boys in tow = a very stressed Momma! So this works best for us. We do Costco all together. I'll push the twins in a stroller and DH will take the big boys with a cart. We often are DONE with the boys behavior by the end. But we do have some good days, sometimes.
Food doesn't work with my twins. Offering it doesn't help. But it does with the older boys.

 

we shop Wegmans and they actually have a daycare area for children over 3 and potty trained...it has made shopping so much better! I drop them off and they have a blast coloring or playing on the computers or watching a movie with a bunch of teenage babysitters that think kids are the best!

 

I am SOOOOOOO jealous! I'd be at the grocery store every day if mine had this

 

I usually do it Monday mornings when they are in Early childhood. I do have to take Lennox with me, but it's so much easier to do with a baby than a baby and 4 year old twins. If I don't do it then. Than I wait for my dh to come home so he can watch them or I do it over the weekend.

 

I don't usually take them with me, but if I have to it is usually on quick trips. They usually like riding in the carts that look like cars but after 30 minutes or so it starts getting bad.

 

Me too! Peapod!

 

I think I have taken them one time by myself and that was only because I needed 3 things. Either DH goes alone or we all go as a family. DH pushes the girls in a cart and I push the groceries in another cart. I don't think my nerves could handle doing it alone. If our stores had a double seater cart, I might consider it, but as of now, NO WAY!

 

A lot of our grocery stores have the 2 seater 'car' carts or other various types of 2 seater carts (not like the nice ones at Sams/Costco). I never let them walk outside the cart if I have lots to get since it takes FOREVER. I have buried my 2nd twin in the large basket before...they sometimes think it's fun to get buried in groceries ! Our local grocery store offers free cookies to the kids, so mine are usually good in anticipation OF the cookie and then I usually get an aisle or 2 of quiet while they eat it .

I LOVE going grocery shopping alone or with DH along, but I think that's happened MAYBE 5 times since the boys were born. It's always me & them. I've learned to shop quickly !

 

High value snacks. Fruit snacks and cookies are a hit for us. I also let them bring stickers in and put stickers on each other (and the cart hahahaha)

 

We have a local grocery store that has a "Tot Spot" too, but I have yet to try it. Something about dropping my kids off with total strangers, even while I was in the store, just freaks me out a bit. Especially since it's literally RIGHT next to the exit...one second & they'd be out the door! We'll see, maybe when they're older .....

 

Andrea - the way our Wegmans works is they check the kids in and out and the kids get a bracelet and I (or DH whoever checks them in) gets a corresponding bracelet with their numbers on it - the room is locked and they don't let the kids out for anyone without a bracelet - of course we've been doing this for a year now and they know us but normally if I had the bracelet and Tony went to get them out they wouldn't let him since he wasn't wearing it...now that they know us (since we've been going weekly for a year) they might hand them over to him if it were an emergency but I doubt it...

before they were old enough to go into the play center I'd get one of the car carts and could do trips with that but they used to jettison their shoes all the time! LOL

 

Wow, I too am jealous of the childwatch at your local grocery stores--that's genious! I do not take mine on major shopping trips, but once in awhile if I need milk and a few items from the store, I'll go in and out in our stroller. I load em up with snacks too.

 

I usually go after they go to bed on Thursday or Friday evenings. Sometimes I go right after dinner and take one. I haven't had to take both for the big grocery trip in awhile, but the double seater carts that look like a car helped and it wasn't horrible. Good luck! They do like to help and I let them hold things or the list and set things on the seat next to them if it's something particular they want. They've always been good about not destroying it before we "pay for it".

 

I take all 3 of my kids grocery shopping with me all the time. I make one of the twins sit in the cart at all times and switch half way through. Its a pain and definently not my favorite choir to do but if you go into it not in a hurry that also helps.

 

I've never been able to do a big shop with all of the kids. I try to go when I only have the twins and it's not so bad. When they were under three, I pushed the stroller and pulled a cart behind. I could get alot done that way! Now I include them in the process which takes longer but usually gets us through without any meltdowns. I ask them to look for colors or letters or to find the soup we usually buy. I will sometimes try to talk them into taking turns in the cart or we'll get the car cart if it's available (there's almost always somebody with ONE kid using it! :headbang: ). I'm looking forward to August when all of them will be in school all day so I can shop in peace and quiet but I have a sneaking suspicion I'll miss them.