“The turn radius on this thing is the worst!” I swear I shouted that every time I had to steer that green race car cart around the grocery store, as if the closed-circuit cameras might hear my grievance. The cart was a pain in the neck, but my kids always begged for it, and I didn’t have the energy to put up a fight. Just gotta take those turns wide!
Now I walk the aisles kid-free many days and miss having little “helpers” with me. Running errands and shopping with a toddler wasn’t easy, but quality time strengthened the bond between me and my sons. Want to make your outings more enjoyable? Here are 5 ways (and reasons) to enjoy shopping with your toddler.
1. Bring all the snacks.
When you’re shopping with a toddler, snacks are your best friend. They keep tiny hands busy, distract from colorful treats they see and decide they must have, and they keep the hangry at bay. Shopping time is no time to worry about ruining your kid’s next meal. Embrace the snack. Uuuuse the snack. Loooove the snack.
2. Give kids a photo grocery list.
I got this idea from a friend who did it with her husband because he kept coming home with the wrong groceries. One day she jokingly taped coupons to a paper with the instruction: “Match the items in the cart to the photos on the coupons.” I still laugh thinking about his scavenger hunt and pat myself on the back for stealing the idea for my kids.
Just grab a clipboard, attach your coups to some paper, and let your kids mark each with a crayon when they (you) find the items. Be ready to give hints: “Let’s see if we can work together to find the milk with the red cap.” The hidden benefit is that you won’t leave the store and realize you forgot to use your coupons!
3. Quit while you’re ahead.
This is a lesson too many of us have learned the hard way. It’s close to nap time, and you know you should head home, but then you think, Everything is going smoothly, no meltdowns, we’re vibing. Let’s make one more stop. So you make that extra stop, just a quick pop-in at the shoe store to try on those sneakers you’ve wanted. Next thing you know, you’re carrying a kid out under your arm, and he’s wailing over light-up shoes he didn’t even know existed 20 minutes earlier.
When you’re shopping with a toddler, you have to know when enough’s enough and accept his limits. You don’t want to push him so far that a fun outing gets overshadowed by a rocky ending.
4. Avoid the danger zones.
When my kids were little, we steered clear of the cereal aisle as if Tony the Tiger were an actual tiger, ready to pounce. You know the spots that cause your kids to fuss—the soda aisle, candy, and cookies. It’s worth waiting for a kid-free trip to get some things and avoid those zones altogether.
But the random spots where grocery stores strategically hang a pack of matchbox cars or cute animal-shaped chip clips? I can’t help you there. Just walk quickly.
5. Get creative with your cart space.
Fitting a week’s worth of groceries with a small child in a cart is no easy feat. Someone’s legs get crushed, or you get to the checkout line to find your bread, bananas, or chips are flattened, bruised, and broken. Avoid the frustration by thinking outside the box (or cart). Hang items like packs of water bottles over the edge. Bring recyclable bags and use s-clips or carabiners to hook them to the handle. Crown your kiddo “grocery helper” and ask him to drop items in the bag.
Why even bother shopping with a toddler if it’s a struggle?
I’m not gonna lie. I love walking around the grocery store. It’s relaxing. The music is my jam. If you love shopping for the time it gives you away from your kids, I get it. But if you can bring them, it’s worth it. As your child sits in that seat with her chubby thighs squeezed through the leg holes, she gets to talk to you in her toddler babble and listen to you talk through the dinner you’re planning.
It’s a chance to make eye contact and smile at her, or clap for each other when you find another item on your list. You’ll have opportunities to praise good behavior like patience and asking politely for things instead of whining. And as your child grows, you’ll find these kinds of ordinary outings are the ones that leave lasting memories.
As your child grows, you'll find that ordinary outings are the ones that leave lasting memories. Click To TweetDo you leave your kids home or take them shopping with you?
