Shopping Tip

There comes a point when babywearing is only helpful on occasion. As the kids get older, they don’t always want to be worn. It can be just as exhausting putting a child on you that does not want to be worn as it can be to chase them down in the store. My kids won’t sit in the cart most of the time (and try to climb out), don’t usually want to be worn unless tired or ill, and rarely stay next to me unless I only have one of them with me. It can be challenging to get them to be cooperative and end with me leaving the store with my sanity.

I tried handing my shopping list to the kids, but that ended up as a disaster. They fought over it, tore it, or crumbled it and threw it the floor as this hilarious new game of theirs. Not so fun for me, but I guess there is something to it since they were having so much fun. I tried writing two little fake lists. They weren’t pleased. Bobble was angry that they were not real words (he quickly realized they had no actual letters), and Squiggle was just plain angry that I still had a list in my hand. Obviously theirs were not good enough if I still had to have one.

Finally, by accident, I stumbled across a pretty decent solution, and quite by accident. I went to a craft store with my mother and the kids, and they were everywhere. Simply everywhere. There was no listening happening at all… until they found the little tablets of paper near the patterns accompanied by little tiny pencils. All they needed to be content was the ability to make their own shopping lists while shopping. Obviously this won’t always work, but it does make it easier since they also will willingly sit in the cart so they can write their lists as we’re in the store. Bobble tries to write the actual words of things he sees that he wants, and Squiggle scribbles on the notepad or paper that she has whenever she sees something she wants.

This works in the grocery store and in retail stores. If they are on foot, we still move slowly since they are pausing to write what they want, but at least they aren’t running off!

Disclaimer: Thoughts of Fluff is responsible for the content of this post. All opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own.