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You are here: Home / Inspiration / Parenting / My “Never Again” Shopping Trip

October 28, 2013 By Tina M 13 Comments This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

My “Never Again” Shopping Trip

I have to put this into writing, because apparently I have amnesia.

Several times I have taken both Offspring #1 and Offspring #2 to the store with me. Each time I vow to never repeat the experience, but somehow I experience complete memory loss. I find myself in the very same situation several weeks later, with the same kids, and the same chaos.

To give you a little idea, here’s what shopping it was like BEFORE we up and decided to add another baby to the picture:

Moment A: My toddler refuses to keep her shoes on. During one shopping trip I didn’t notice one of them missing until checkout. I proceeded to turn around with my cart full of groceries, and retrace my steps until I found it. On another shopping trip I actually found out we had a missing shoe before checkout. And this is why: Over the loud-speaker I hear, “Attention customers, it appears we have a toddler that is missing a shoe. It’s pink, and size 4.” Yup, that would be my toddler.


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Moment B: Repeat experience above only with hair accessories. On one experience I noticed her headband was missing on our way to the car. Part of me wanted to just forget about it, but then the Penny Pinching Angel bounced right onto my shoulder and whispered, “You paid $4 for that headband.” So I turned my cart around, retraced my steps, and retrieved said headband.

Moment C: During one shopping trip I checked out with my groceries, but to my horror noticed my money was not there. With absolute embarrassment (and without making eye contact with the shopper behind me), I told the checker “I’ll be right back. It think my toddler lost my money.” Sure enough, just a few isles down were several bills that she had tossed from the cart like confetti (luckily there weren’t many shoppers in the store at that moment).

Okay, so let’s jump forward to today.

Add a 5-month old to the picture.

My toddler sits in the seat of the cart and my baby sits in her car seat in the basket. Do you know what this means? Practically no room for anything besides little humans in my grocery cart. On a separate shopping trip, I actually had one of the clerks ask if they could push my groceries out for me in a separate shopping cart because they had no idea how I was able to maneuver so many items into my cart and around my children.

Okay, we are getting off track here.

So tonight’s shopping trip starts with toddler poking baby’s eyes. She thinks it’s funny. Baby thinks it’s awful and makes sure everyone in the store knows. She looked a little like this:

shopping with kids

 

After we calm down baby (and have a short lecture on the consequences of eye-ball poking), we continue on our way.

Next, my toddler makes a game out of trying to pull items off every display possible and chucking it onto the floor. I try to keep a distance from all displays, but somehow her reach is further than I estimate. As I begin putting a few items in our cart, toddler proceeds to A.) throw it right back out of the cart, or B.) put it in baby’s face.

Both are poor choices.

But somehow I found myself frazzled and unable to think logically, and end up saying things like, “Do you want to go straight to bed?” Even a 2-year old can understand that her chances of ending up in her crib while we are at the store are landing at about zero percent.

To make a long story less long….I began to realize that my chances of thinking through our Halloween costumes was no longer possible amidst the screaming 5-month old and product-chucking 2-year old. I began to just throw shirts and spandex in various sizes into our cart with the thought, “I’ll just return what we aren’t using LATER when I don’t have kids with me.”

Did I mention it was really windy today? I made it to the car only to have the wind wisp my receipt right out of my hands! I was holding a toddler in one arm and groceries in the other, and couldn’t react fast enough to retrieve it. Typically I could care less because I never keep my receipts, but on this particular visit I had purchased more than I planned on actually keeping.

Here’s the best part of the story: We then picked up my husband from work, and I told him of the irony. Only I guess he didn’t think it was funny. He thinks returns are such a hassle, especially without a receipt (true).

Oh yea, and he happens to be very frugal-minded.

So HE DRIVES BACK TO WALMART and we circle the parking lot looking for a stray receipt. This is still so funny to me because when I said it was windy, it was windy. My receipt went hasta la vista. But we searched anyway. And that’s when we saw it: A receipt fluttering off into the distance. So I get out of the car, and like a woman who has clearly lost her marbles, I chase after it.

Yes. I did.

And what’s even funnier is that this adrenaline and excitement come out of nowhere and tell me that this is the funniest thing ever–that over an hour later on a very windy day–I am chasing and retrieving a silly receipt.

In case you’re wondering, I did manage to tackle it down! And in case you’re wondering, it wasn’t ours.

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Tina M

Tina M

I'm six-foot tall mother of three and I'm enjoying the view! I'm currently fighting a battle with Lyme disease and am determined to come out victorious. I enjoy warm summer rain, peanut butter everything, having dance parties with my husband and kids, natural remedies and healthy living. Most days I'm just looking for another excuse to avoid the piles of laundry.
Tina M

@MothersNiche

Tina M
Tina M

Tina M

Tina M

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Tagged With: embarrassing moments, shopping with kids

About Tina M

I'm six-foot tall mother of three and I'm enjoying the view! I'm currently fighting a battle with Lyme disease and am determined to come out victorious. I enjoy warm summer rain, peanut butter everything, having dance parties with my husband and kids, natural remedies and healthy living. Most days I'm just looking for another excuse to avoid the piles of laundry.

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Comments

  1. momprojects says

    October 29, 2013 at 8:31 am

    You are funny! I have been there….

    Reply
  2. Alisha Frost says

    October 29, 2013 at 9:35 am

    When I lived in Provo I served with a young women leader who would do her grocery shopping at 4 or 5 a.m. while her husband and kids were still at home in bed. I thought she was NUTS! Now I, and I think you, totally understand! Way worth one super early morning a week for sanity in the grocery store.

    Reply
    • Tina M says

      October 29, 2013 at 3:06 pm

      Alisha, I totally did that a week ago. It was crazy…I could actually think to myself.

  3. Judy says

    October 29, 2013 at 11:12 am

    Thank you for making my day! My son is grown, however, shopping with him can also be a chore. But these are the times that you can look back laugh and realize “all in a life time”. I would not trade some of those moments for anything. However, I am glad they are in the past and I only shop with my son if we are looking for something for Him! LOL!!

    Reply
    • Tina M says

      October 29, 2013 at 3:07 pm

      Haha, you’r welcome Judy! I’m glad you saw the humor in it all ๐Ÿ™‚

  4. Beth says

    October 29, 2013 at 2:45 pm

    Great post. I really relate to the whole not-having-any-space-for-anything-but-baby-in-the-cart syndrome. And I only have one! But then I found it’s actually much, much worse once your husband lets her out of the cart one time, and you never ever get to compare prices or look for any kind of unusual ingredient ever again.

    So did you pick costumes for the girls?

    Reply
    • Tina M says

      October 29, 2013 at 3:10 pm

      Beth, Yes. Kind of. I wasn’t looking for an actual costume, but for items to make our costume with. I somehow thought that would be cheaper, but we’ll see. We are going to be the Incredibles. And since my 2-year old still doesn’t have hair, she will pass as Dash just fine. And baby will be baby incredible. So I guess I’m cross-dressing both of them this year. ๐Ÿ™‚

  5. Lisa Christensen Bagley says

    October 29, 2013 at 4:28 pm

    I stumbled across your blog last Friday (I actually repinned a pin from Pinterest from one of my friends which led me to your blog!) and I have to tell you how much I enjoy reading your posts! I couldn’t believe it when I realized I actually knew who you were (I’m Lisa Bagley…my husband Scott teaches seminary in Monroe!). I just wanted to let you know that I have the exact same experience every time I go shopping with my 2.5 year old and 10 month old. Seriously, I go through the EXACT same thing. Before my 10 month old, my little girl lost a shoe and my money on separate occasions. Now, we go through eye poking and putting things in the cart. In fact, a couple months ago, she pulled a glass bottle off of a shelf, and it shattered all over the floor. Monkey arms. Seriously.

    I know this is totally random, but I just wanted to let you know you’re not the only one. And it’s nice to know I’m not the only one, either! Thanks for the laugh today. ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply
    • Tina M says

      October 29, 2013 at 11:08 pm

      Small world Lisa! Pinterest is bringing people together all over the place. Haha!

  6. Annie says

    October 29, 2013 at 5:55 pm

    haha WOW this sounds like my life right now!!!! You’re not alone mamma!!! Good job!

    Reply
  7. Elizabeth says

    October 30, 2013 at 5:45 am

    Oh yes! Those CRAZY shopping trips with multiple children. Last week, I had a Target trip with my 1 and my 3 year-old that ended up being so long we missed my daughter’s dance class, we had 2 visits to customer service for a list lovey, and we had a multi-aisle search for a list shoe. NUT!! I, too, always swear I’ll never do it again, but somehow convince myself a week or so later that it wasn’t THAT bad. Kind if like childbirth…

    Reply
    • Elizabeth says

      October 30, 2013 at 5:46 am

      Sorry for the typos. I’m typing on my phone with a wiggly toddler in my lap!

  8. Alisha Frost says

    October 31, 2013 at 10:55 pm

    Amen. My husband took my daughter shopping when she was about 18 months and didn’t make her ride in the cart. I literally could not physically get in the cart after that. Now the grocery store is a speed marathon. There is no time for price comparisons. We get what we get!!! Or my child touches everything on the shelf…

    Reply

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