The Grocery Store Can Be Fun
Posted by Rachel Balducci in Family on Thursday, August 21, 2008 9:12 PM
When my four oldest boys were little, we ate our way through the grocery store. Not necessarily the entire store, but usually from the half-way point on.
In those days, an outing to the grocery store was an all-day affair. The boys and I would usually arrive in the late morning, eat a light lunch in the dining area and then hit the aisles. We would wind our way up and down, row after row, the boys trying to touch everything and me trying to calmly balance checking items off my list and keeping my brood in check.
By the time we made it to the snack aisle, everyone was generally ready for a change of scenery. Like a faithful friend, the goldfish were always there for us. I would grab a pack off the shelf (sometimes even checking to see if they were on sale), and start dealing out the tiny orange koi one at a time. The gentle distraction bought me about fifteen minutes, just enough time to zip through the produce and be on our way.
My favorite part of the trip would be at the end. Besides the obvious reason that we were DONE!!!, I always enjoyed waiting for the salesperson to make note of the goldfish bag. And sure enough, almost everytime, the cashier would ask if I realized the bag was already opened. I couldn’t decide if she was doing it to be nice, or to point out that I was the kind of mother who sometimes resorted to allowing her children to snack while she shopped (I have discussed this with friends who have had similar experiences, and the jury is still out).
One-year-old Henry has not gotten to that snacking stage just yet. In general, we zip through the store with little incident. I’m not sure if it’s that I’m now a better shopper, or if having older boys to keep him occupied is the answer—even when I have all five boys with me (as has been the case all summer long) we can get in and out without opening anything.
Until tonight. This bunch of fruit was next to Henry in the cart, and as I picked the bunch up to put on the belt, I noticed one banana had been tampered with. I half-expected the cashier to ask if I realized it had a bite out of out.
Mercifcully, she did not.
note: no children choked in the making of this entry. Henry had JUST taken the bite and I fished it from his mouth immediately. Then I took the picture.
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