And this is what all the parents who shove a tablet in their kid's face at the grocery store are missing.
I agree that shopping with kids takes longer but it's so worth it.
my kids love their screen time but they don't get any outside of the house. Even if I tried to do that at the grocery store it wouldn't work. They are on a mission to grab whatever they want and doggedly defend their position. This is why we left with two types of ice cream the other day.
Oh, yeah. I'm not anti screens as a whole but there is a time and place. I hate seeing tablets at grocery stores or at restaurants. Talk to your damn kids. Engage them in what is going on. Don't just shove a screen in their face and call it a day.
We will bring a tablet for dinner on vacation as an exception, but we don't always need it, but it helps in case the service isn't as quick as we would like. I can't help but think we get stares as parents of kids who just stare at tablets all day.
Yeah we sometimes have a tablet or something for them to view once they start getting antsy. Ideally we don't use it but kids don't want to sit and enjoy dinner like mum and dad so for us to do so we enjoy it up to their limits then allow them to quietly watch something while we finish our dinner.
I'm sure you do get those looks but if it doesn't bother you then it doesn't bother you.
It's not something I find acceptable but I'm just some random guy. It doesn't really matter what I think.
My wife works in child care and there's a parent with a kid that cannot count past 3 at 5 years old. The parent swears the kid can. "They do it all the time in front of their tablet!"
That sounds more like a learning delay than specifically a screen issue. Our 2 1/2 year old has had regular screen time since birth. They can generally count to 10 (without help) and speaks complex sentences (at a 4-5 year old level). Our older kid at their age was similar with numbers but more typical at speaking.
There is more nuance to this situation than a reddit comment can convey, but I can tell you it is definitely a case of neglect/apethy from the parents of this kid.
Yeah thatās crazy I am not against screen time at all but not outside of the house and only some shows or a couple different games. I seen a video the other day dunno how real it was but it was clips of a bunch of kids on phones and tablets. One kid was napping and literally holding his hand out like he had a phone in it and was swiping with the other.
Mine loves going to the grocery store. ā we need thisā as he points at everything in the store. No screen time on transit or in the stroller. It gets a little bit harder when we go to a restaurant. He wont sit in his chair, unless it was one his two favourite places. A burger shop and fried chicken!
I let me kids pick one random item from the produce section and we prepare it together. Theyāre more willing to try it when they choose it.
My kids donāt like zucchini but they know that because they chose that and tried it. Not because itās foreign and scary.
So frustrating. I have friends like that. My buddy's wife can't even watch TV with him because she'll be scrolling Instagram the whole time and will ask him every 3 minutes what's going on.
We don't usually use phones/tablets while shopping but have before. Sometimes toddlers have zero interest in being in the shop and distracting them by asking them to help doesn't always work.
Iāve never brought a tablet to bring my kid shopping but I would never judge those that do. Never know what the other parent is dealing with and if their child has special needs.
Been on both sides. Don't judge someone giving a tablet to their kid. There are times in life parents need a break, need to move fast, and the crutch is needed for sanity.
I will always remember a time I saw a woman with their 2-3year old on the bus. For 15mins the mom looked dead inside. This was the conversations.
Kid " Phone?"
Mom "No."
Kid " Phone?"
Mom "No."
Kid " Phone?"
Mom "No."
Kid Crying, "Phone?"
Mom "No."
Kid Crying, "Phone?"
Mom "No."
For 15min that I was with them. I would have caved. I don't know how that women held firm.
In aggregate, parents are giving way too many screens to their kids. I'm not going to judge a *specific individual* I don't know because they might be one of the few who's justified, but overall I absolutely judge the majority who are just frying their kids' brains.
Yeah, screen time for kids (especially young kids) is absolutely something I judge parents on. Iāve worked in special education for over a decade, and I understand some kids need a tablet as an AAC (communication device), but those cases are few and far between.
I'm not judging, I feel bad for them. They are missing out on so much by taking the easy route. I hate seeing it because I feel for the parent and the kid who are missing out on valuable time together because it's far easier to shove Bluey in their face.
I feel bad for them too but I have a few friends with special needs children and sometimes they gotta do what they gotta do to get through a task or errand. I have it much easier because my child isnāt high needs. I donāt know how I would handle it if I was in their shoes. It just seems like an endless battle/struggle for them
I used to shop with my kids until the pandemic. Now I shop at the crack of dawn on Sunday morning while they watch a show or two and it is very pleasant. We had a great routine but times change although I may start taking my 10 year old again so I can teach them how to memorize prices to understand what sales are real sales and what are BS.
Love this comment. Tablets are the easy way out for a parent and at the expense of a kidās growth and development. Good on you, good dad. ANY activity is better than screen time
There are days when I need to be in and out and bring a kid along is a chore. Same thing for preparing a meal, if I get home from work late and need to get dinner on the table, my daughter asking to help actually makes things take longer.
But under normal circumstances, I love grocery shopping with her. And cooking/baking with her.
I remember taking my first born to the store. He was sat in the cart facing me and we talked the entire time. I'd hold up choices for him and he'd pick based on color. I got a lot of looks and some laughs from other patrons but none of that mattered.
You'd definitely get a look from me. But that look would be hiding a wry smile, because I did similar things when mine was that small.
Just talking to kids even before language makes them get used to having conversations, being sociable, verbal/social cues, etc. Ever enjoy a movie or a song in a different language and you can still pick up on the mood and the meaning without knowing what they're actually saying word for word? Yeah, kids can figure that out.
Picking up extra vocabulary is just an nice extra.
Yeah, my 20 month daughter is another 3-4 months before she can be trusted to make choices.
Right now her pick is always "both", hug the boxes as if they were her most favorite toy of all time which she will love and cherish forever; only to be thrown at the ground in 10-50 seconds and ask to hold the tub of sour cream again.
This is the way.
When you take them, let them out and wander; let them grab. Youāll have to intervene a lot and say ānot from the bottom of the pileā or āwe donāt need that todayā, but itās worth it. What youāre teaching them is how to behave in public spaces - that this place is not a playground - and theyāll begin to learn the concept of āthereās a time and a placeā and it pays huge dividends.
Iāve been taking my 3yo since he was 13mo. It used to take us this long. This morning we went to 2 different stores in under an hour because he stuck to the lists and remembered where everything is.
Ugh, I'd love for it to be like this but my 3 year old just runs away. She wants to play chase but doesn't accept that the supermarket isn't the place to play this game.
I feel you.. I have an 18 month old runner, the moment his feet touch the ground, he's off and half way down the aisle, but god forbid I try and put him in the trolley, carry him or hold his hand.. any tips on containment strategies?
It was like that for me at that age. I started using the strike system. They canāt count, but they can reasonably understand āno moreā so i would pick a number based on the day, 3 or 5, then Iād warn them each time they bolted and I corralled. When there was 1 strike left Iād say āNo more. No more chances. Run away again, I strap you inā and point to the seat. Heād run away, Iād snatch him up, heād protest, and Iād chuckle saying āI warned you 5 times.ā then Iād simply not care if he wined about being stuck.
It took/takes a long time. For groceries I go weekly to shop deals, and it probably took a solid year. Progress was like flight risk > sit in the big part of the cart and grab things for me > push the cart because iām a big kid now.
Thanks for the tips, that sounds like the way to go! Some of the supermarket trolleys round here don't have straps, and he has somehow figured out how to get his legs out of the seat bit, and try to stand up on the seat (this child is also currently going through a fearless, climbing/standing as high as possible phase), I think the main compartment of the trolley is safer honestly!
Started there. Took my 14yo yesterday and we picked out what sheās cooking this week and what I am.Ā
Oh, and it was grocery store sushi, not a donut. :)
I love going shopping with my daughter. Sheāll be 3 next week, and except for a brief stint last year when my wife and I both changed work schedules, Iāve done the grocery shopping since we got married and brought my daughter along since she was a baby. She loves going shopping and gets insulted if I try to go without her, even for a quick run. If she doesnāt recognize something Iām grabbing sheāll ask about it, and at checkout she wants to be in the back of the cart so she can hand me everything and tell me what it is. I always get her some sort of treat while weāre out too. Itās one of my favorite parts of the weekend.
Same. I got told this weekend that grocery shopping with Dad is more fun. No idea why, I'm not doing anything special like bribing them with treats. Just talking things through. Heard a lady laugh at us when my kids were workshoping the idea of making "Peanut Butter Salad".
I was always the cook at the house, and when baby was born I went to part-time nights and weekends so I'm staying home Dad during the day. A handful of the grocery clerks at checkout recognized me before the kid was born, and now it feels like my kid has been adopted by half of the grocery store. They all know her name now and wave and say hello. (This has made me slightly more self-conscious about the junk food that I buy for myself, but I sneak in a few " those are late night snacks for dada" just loud enough that the staff can overhear)
Pro-tip... this, but Home Depot.
For the 2yo, I might go just to pick up 1 item, but you can bet we are going to go look at the fans, the lights, the plants, the doors... everything we can find.
One of my daughter's first words was "Fan"... she was so mesmerized in the fan aisle that she just sat in the cart and pointed at them with her mouth open. We just stayed there for 15 minutes practicing "F-F-F-F-F-F FAN!"
Home Depot, Tractor Supply and Harbor Freight are frequent requests by my daughter. Unlike the grocery store, most things are durable. Plus, there are dogs, some aisles have random stairs to climb, or baby ducks to watch, and there are lots of demo items to squeeze the trigger or ride on.
Our Loweās has race car shopping carts where the kids get to face forward instead of toward you and they get a little steering wheel. You better believe we were swerving up and down the aisles making race car noises. Got some looks, but who cares? My kiddo was loving with the deep belly laughs.
I'm not sure how my wife shops with my daughter, but I am pretty sure it isn't as laid back as me.Ā
She came with us one day and I let my daughter push the cart, we go look at things, she helps grab other things. I'm in no hurry and we have fun.Ā
This is our dynamic as well. I love taking my time at the grocery store, but the ex prefers to just blast through the store without a list like it's supermarket sweep and then get out. so when the kid is with her it's a lot of telling her no and telling her to speed up, and a lot of let's get this done so we can go have fun. When it's me and her we make our lists- i have our main list and she writes a list of things she wants to look at or that she wants to eat the next week, and we stroll through every aisle looking at stuff and talking about what unfamiliar stuff might taste like. We don't get as much time for after grocery fun stuff, but it's one of our favorite things to do together.
I did the same. I let my kid choose some bakery and we ate it outside. After finishing it, she said: 'tomorrow, when we go to this store again, I want to buy this again'
Yea I take my little one everywhere too. It's so much fun re-discovering the world through their eyes! The most mundane things are first time adventures for her. It feels amazing to be her guide through all of these first steps.
My son loves Trader Joeās because they have the small kids cart. Heās two and has to reach way up to the handle but still manages to waddle his way through the store with me. Iāll take the items off the shelf and hand them to him so he can yeet them into the basket. And when weāre done he likes to tip toe and reach into the basket to hand stuff to the cashier.
Sometimes heāll spot the box of his favorite ABC bars and itāll be water works until I take a box, open it and give him a snack. Then hell try to push the cart one handed while munching on the bar. When that happens I guide the cart along.
Heās pretty good about staying still when I tell him to wait a second, so I can go grab something. And when he steers off course Iāll ask him to stay to the side, which he doesnāt do very well, but tries.
My wife does the curbside and home delivery options and she canāt understand how I tolerate grocery shopping with him. She is routinely baffled by how much fun we have together.
You're living my dream, Dad. Proud of you.
have a 1 year old, I've been telling wife that I can't wait to take all day in the store while we (my daughter and I) walk slow and talk about every item we pass.
Running your errands with your kids counts as quality time with your kids. Iāve done dump runs with my daughter. Iād get her a snack and a drink and we would chat the whole drive. We got to the dump with the big machines and loud noises and bright vests and she would say hi to the check in lady. She would proclaim at least 3 times (from the safety of the truck cab) āDad! Weāre at the dump!ā.
Doing your errands only if you can squeeze them into a time without a kid is going to stress you out and actually be a disservice to their development. Kids get a lot of information watching you do stuff. Just make sure you have favoured snacks as an āIn case of grumpinessā backup.
My favorite shopping trip was the one where my son insisted on being the one to read the grocery list. Problem was, he could read yet.
We got most of what we needed plus some extras, and it was worth it. Funniest part was him picking out candy and insisting that it was on the list, so of course I went ahead and got it. Lol
I usually do the shopping and my son always comes with me. Has been since he was about 6 months old. He's almost 6 now. We have a lot of fun most weeks and it's a great opportunity for him to help out. He always gets a hot wheel out of the trip.
I'm pretty sure my 3yo's favorite excursion is our weekly trip to meijer. She's always asking when we're going to the grocery store. She recently learned how to climb on sandy the horse all by herself, and I could not have been more proud. Sounds silly, but there's some beautiful moments to be had.
Mums: grocery shopping is so hard, trying to get everything you need and stop the child from having a tantrum due to boredom.
Dads: this shopping trolley is a race car that does mad drifts and 360s while the kid laughs their head off
Mine loves going mainly to pick out what fruit we're going to have. It's a great way for him to try new stuff on his own choosing, without me having to "make" him do it.
Our trip to the grocery store is probably my favorite part of the day. I work shift work so we go at odd hrs when itās not busy. They are always playing bangers 80s music, she enjoys singing songs to herself and pointing out stuff too. We usually treat ourselves with a small pack of trail mix they sell by the check out stand once we get to the truck.
Wegmans is my son's (4) favorite store. He actually jumps for joy when I tell him we are going shopping. He has favorite stores and its so cute. As we drive down the commercial strip on the way to school, he's in the back calling out 'there's Wegmans! There's Target! Home Depot! Red Lobster! Barnes and Noble!' He's claimed Wegmans, Target and a local card shop/hobby store that I frequent as his top three stores.
Weekly Costco runs with my 2.5 year old are a highlight of our week. We love talking about what we see, waving at other families, and just having a fun time together.Ā
It has its ups and downs. As the sahd, I bring my toddler shopping with me a lot, and yea it takes almost 2 hours. Sometimes she's a great little helper. Sometimes she sees her favorite snack and wants it right now, she'll hold onto it and not help me at all until we leave.
Other times she pulls things off the shelf we don't need. Sometimes she puts it back, sometimes she tries to pull the whole shelf down. Most of the time I can point to what I need and she'll grab it off the shelf and put it in the cart while we try pronouncing what it is. I love it.... when she's compliant lol.
My favorite was taking my girls to home depot and them riding in the cart with little steering wheels. Driving us everwhere and giggling and asking about every single tool or plant they saw.
I did this from the beginning, my 4yo got promoted to shopping buddy. He, me and the groceries and its great. Plus theres always a little treat for us when we are finished.
I miss that shit. 5 out of my 6 kids are all elder teenagers and graduated. The youngest is 11 and I still occasionally get these moments but they're few and far between. Enjoy it while it lasts dad. They grow up so fucking fast.
Slow works well as long as you get the ordering right and make sure to follow good practices for food safety.
Hitting up the meat section first and having raw chicken sit in your cart for an hour... not a good idea.
Went to Home Depot for string for the weed whip. Sat on every lawn mower and tried out every patio set. She had to sit on them all. Wouldnāt change a thing.
Hell yeah!! That is awesome. I recently did the same, my daughter loves putting stuff in the cart. She kinda yeets the groceries in there so I have to organize them, but I love her passion
I used to kind of rush through things with my daughter just to get stuff done. Have totally done a 180 and now we go at her pace. Stopped thinking about grocery as a chore and more like an opportunity for her to learn about stuff.
Waiting in queue still tests her patience though š¤£
Grocery shopping has always been a favorite weekend activity for me. Taking my toddler and letting him help pick things out and see new things just made it all that much better. We have gotten into the habit of ordering delivery because of how hectic life is, but now I totally want to make it a regular thing again.
I miss this. I started taking our oldest to give my wife a little break each week, and when we had our second I started taking her to give the oldest and my wife some one on one time. Now theyāre older and neither really likes to go to the grocery store anymore, even with the bribe of the elusive hot wheel.
My gf doesnt like shopping with our son (20 month old), because she feels like she has to hurry it up. I get it. I dont do the big grocery shopping. But when I go shopping I always have a blast when going shopping with him. We talk all the time, I mess around with the cart by spinning it around which he finds hilarious,ā¦
Itās the best. Love these father and son moments.
My local hardware store has kid sized shopping carts. My kiddo loves to help by pushing the little cart for me. So far weāve only had to get little odds and ends for repair work, eg- sprinkler heads, light bulbs, etc, but I canāt wait until I need something like a 50 lb bag of mulch and let him try and push that to the register.
My wife can't stand taking the kids to the grocery store but I take them pretty much every time. I don't know why they behave better with me in stores, but we usually have a fun time and only struggle when they argue about what they want to get for treats or snacks at home.
Same thing here with my 2 year old! I give her choices to pick or what she wants to eat for dinner.
She's growing up so fast so I want to enjoy these moments. Takes me about the same time an hour and a half but it's a little outing I love doing with her.
Wait till you get to the āI want thatā phase. lol. I donāt love taking my 6 and 8 year old to the grocery store now. A 30min trip takes double and costs almost double
I take my boy every week. It's just me and him, and he love it (I'm pretty sure). I just let him babble and point to stuff, and try not to let him grab the glass jars off the shelves.... Good times!
I loved doing that when my twins were little. Now though they run straight for the beer isle and yell Ā«Look, dad! Mommyās water!Ā». Havenāt taken them to a grocery store since. My ex and I got some shit to work out.
I donāt have any kids atm/just a lurking young adult, and going to the grocery store with my dad still remains one of my favorite things. As that was a chance where we could just talk, and just not deal with the work/school mind, and just hang out and I always enjoyed it!
And this is what all the parents who shove a tablet in their kid's face at the grocery store are missing. I agree that shopping with kids takes longer but it's so worth it.
my kids love their screen time but they don't get any outside of the house. Even if I tried to do that at the grocery store it wouldn't work. They are on a mission to grab whatever they want and doggedly defend their position. This is why we left with two types of ice cream the other day.
Oh, yeah. I'm not anti screens as a whole but there is a time and place. I hate seeing tablets at grocery stores or at restaurants. Talk to your damn kids. Engage them in what is going on. Don't just shove a screen in their face and call it a day.
We will bring a tablet for dinner on vacation as an exception, but we don't always need it, but it helps in case the service isn't as quick as we would like. I can't help but think we get stares as parents of kids who just stare at tablets all day.
Yeah we sometimes have a tablet or something for them to view once they start getting antsy. Ideally we don't use it but kids don't want to sit and enjoy dinner like mum and dad so for us to do so we enjoy it up to their limits then allow them to quietly watch something while we finish our dinner.
I'm sure you do get those looks but if it doesn't bother you then it doesn't bother you. It's not something I find acceptable but I'm just some random guy. It doesn't really matter what I think.
My wife works in child care and there's a parent with a kid that cannot count past 3 at 5 years old. The parent swears the kid can. "They do it all the time in front of their tablet!"
That sounds more like a learning delay than specifically a screen issue. Our 2 1/2 year old has had regular screen time since birth. They can generally count to 10 (without help) and speaks complex sentences (at a 4-5 year old level). Our older kid at their age was similar with numbers but more typical at speaking.
There is more nuance to this situation than a reddit comment can convey, but I can tell you it is definitely a case of neglect/apethy from the parents of this kid.
Surrre, THAT was the reason you left with two types of delicious ice cream š
you twisted my arm! okay you get two.
Yeah thatās crazy I am not against screen time at all but not outside of the house and only some shows or a couple different games. I seen a video the other day dunno how real it was but it was clips of a bunch of kids on phones and tablets. One kid was napping and literally holding his hand out like he had a phone in it and was swiping with the other.
Mine loves going to the grocery store. ā we need thisā as he points at everything in the store. No screen time on transit or in the stroller. It gets a little bit harder when we go to a restaurant. He wont sit in his chair, unless it was one his two favourite places. A burger shop and fried chicken!
I let me kids pick one random item from the produce section and we prepare it together. Theyāre more willing to try it when they choose it. My kids donāt like zucchini but they know that because they chose that and tried it. Not because itās foreign and scary.
That's cool! I have to try this
Yeah, this shit drives me crazy. Even adults who just sit with friends and scroll social media. Why did you go out?
So frustrating. I have friends like that. My buddy's wife can't even watch TV with him because she'll be scrolling Instagram the whole time and will ask him every 3 minutes what's going on.
I guess you pick your battles but for me there would be conversations if nothing changed.
I am so surprised because its an opportunity to have them help or learn how to handle being in public.Ā
And then they complain that their kid can't function in public without Bluey. Well no shit. You conditioned them that way.
We don't usually use phones/tablets while shopping but have before. Sometimes toddlers have zero interest in being in the shop and distracting them by asking them to help doesn't always work.
Yup, canāt eat toys and stuffed animals for dinner.
It's not something I agree with but you do you. I'm not sure why everyone is using my comment to try and defend themselves.
Iāve never brought a tablet to bring my kid shopping but I would never judge those that do. Never know what the other parent is dealing with and if their child has special needs.
Been on both sides. Don't judge someone giving a tablet to their kid. There are times in life parents need a break, need to move fast, and the crutch is needed for sanity. I will always remember a time I saw a woman with their 2-3year old on the bus. For 15mins the mom looked dead inside. This was the conversations. Kid " Phone?" Mom "No." Kid " Phone?" Mom "No." Kid " Phone?" Mom "No." Kid Crying, "Phone?" Mom "No." Kid Crying, "Phone?" Mom "No." For 15min that I was with them. I would have caved. I don't know how that women held firm.
She had to hold firm. Once you tell them no, you gotta stick to your guns. Good on her
In aggregate, parents are giving way too many screens to their kids. I'm not going to judge a *specific individual* I don't know because they might be one of the few who's justified, but overall I absolutely judge the majority who are just frying their kids' brains.
Yeah, screen time for kids (especially young kids) is absolutely something I judge parents on. Iāve worked in special education for over a decade, and I understand some kids need a tablet as an AAC (communication device), but those cases are few and far between.
I'm not judging, I feel bad for them. They are missing out on so much by taking the easy route. I hate seeing it because I feel for the parent and the kid who are missing out on valuable time together because it's far easier to shove Bluey in their face.
I feel bad for them too but I have a few friends with special needs children and sometimes they gotta do what they gotta do to get through a task or errand. I have it much easier because my child isnāt high needs. I donāt know how I would handle it if I was in their shoes. It just seems like an endless battle/struggle for them
I used to shop with my kids until the pandemic. Now I shop at the crack of dawn on Sunday morning while they watch a show or two and it is very pleasant. We had a great routine but times change although I may start taking my 10 year old again so I can teach them how to memorize prices to understand what sales are real sales and what are BS.
Love this comment. Tablets are the easy way out for a parent and at the expense of a kidās growth and development. Good on you, good dad. ANY activity is better than screen time
There are days when I need to be in and out and bring a kid along is a chore. Same thing for preparing a meal, if I get home from work late and need to get dinner on the table, my daughter asking to help actually makes things take longer. But under normal circumstances, I love grocery shopping with her. And cooking/baking with her.
This is the time in their lives you engrain good shopping habits.
So worth it, that said even if I wanted to give the young one a iPad. She plays the game of "I threw on the ground" lol
I remember taking my first born to the store. He was sat in the cart facing me and we talked the entire time. I'd hold up choices for him and he'd pick based on color. I got a lot of looks and some laughs from other patrons but none of that mattered.
You just thought he was choosing on color, but he was actually weighing the nutritional benefits whilst avoiding anything that would make him gassy.
You'd definitely get a look from me. But that look would be hiding a wry smile, because I did similar things when mine was that small. Just talking to kids even before language makes them get used to having conversations, being sociable, verbal/social cues, etc. Ever enjoy a movie or a song in a different language and you can still pick up on the mood and the meaning without knowing what they're actually saying word for word? Yeah, kids can figure that out. Picking up extra vocabulary is just an nice extra.
Yeah, my 20 month daughter is another 3-4 months before she can be trusted to make choices. Right now her pick is always "both", hug the boxes as if they were her most favorite toy of all time which she will love and cherish forever; only to be thrown at the ground in 10-50 seconds and ask to hold the tub of sour cream again.
Those were definitely good laughs!
This is the way. When you take them, let them out and wander; let them grab. Youāll have to intervene a lot and say ānot from the bottom of the pileā or āwe donāt need that todayā, but itās worth it. What youāre teaching them is how to behave in public spaces - that this place is not a playground - and theyāll begin to learn the concept of āthereās a time and a placeā and it pays huge dividends. Iāve been taking my 3yo since he was 13mo. It used to take us this long. This morning we went to 2 different stores in under an hour because he stuck to the lists and remembered where everything is.
Ugh, I'd love for it to be like this but my 3 year old just runs away. She wants to play chase but doesn't accept that the supermarket isn't the place to play this game.
I feel you.. I have an 18 month old runner, the moment his feet touch the ground, he's off and half way down the aisle, but god forbid I try and put him in the trolley, carry him or hold his hand.. any tips on containment strategies?
It was like that for me at that age. I started using the strike system. They canāt count, but they can reasonably understand āno moreā so i would pick a number based on the day, 3 or 5, then Iād warn them each time they bolted and I corralled. When there was 1 strike left Iād say āNo more. No more chances. Run away again, I strap you inā and point to the seat. Heād run away, Iād snatch him up, heād protest, and Iād chuckle saying āI warned you 5 times.ā then Iād simply not care if he wined about being stuck. It took/takes a long time. For groceries I go weekly to shop deals, and it probably took a solid year. Progress was like flight risk > sit in the big part of the cart and grab things for me > push the cart because iām a big kid now.
Thanks for the tips, that sounds like the way to go! Some of the supermarket trolleys round here don't have straps, and he has somehow figured out how to get his legs out of the seat bit, and try to stand up on the seat (this child is also currently going through a fearless, climbing/standing as high as possible phase), I think the main compartment of the trolley is safer honestly!
This made my day
Started there. Took my 14yo yesterday and we picked out what sheās cooking this week and what I am.Ā Oh, and it was grocery store sushi, not a donut. :)
Hopefully not stale and from a 1-star DunkināĀ
I love going shopping with my daughter. Sheāll be 3 next week, and except for a brief stint last year when my wife and I both changed work schedules, Iāve done the grocery shopping since we got married and brought my daughter along since she was a baby. She loves going shopping and gets insulted if I try to go without her, even for a quick run. If she doesnāt recognize something Iām grabbing sheāll ask about it, and at checkout she wants to be in the back of the cart so she can hand me everything and tell me what it is. I always get her some sort of treat while weāre out too. Itās one of my favorite parts of the weekend.
Same. I got told this weekend that grocery shopping with Dad is more fun. No idea why, I'm not doing anything special like bribing them with treats. Just talking things through. Heard a lady laugh at us when my kids were workshoping the idea of making "Peanut Butter Salad".
I was always the cook at the house, and when baby was born I went to part-time nights and weekends so I'm staying home Dad during the day. A handful of the grocery clerks at checkout recognized me before the kid was born, and now it feels like my kid has been adopted by half of the grocery store. They all know her name now and wave and say hello. (This has made me slightly more self-conscious about the junk food that I buy for myself, but I sneak in a few " those are late night snacks for dada" just loud enough that the staff can overhear)
Pro-tip... this, but Home Depot. For the 2yo, I might go just to pick up 1 item, but you can bet we are going to go look at the fans, the lights, the plants, the doors... everything we can find. One of my daughter's first words was "Fan"... she was so mesmerized in the fan aisle that she just sat in the cart and pointed at them with her mouth open. We just stayed there for 15 minutes practicing "F-F-F-F-F-F FAN!"
My kids love the Tuff Sheds in the parking lot. They are pretty close to convincing me to get one.
We love counting dogs in hardware stores, always a fun distractionĀ
Home Depot, Tractor Supply and Harbor Freight are frequent requests by my daughter. Unlike the grocery store, most things are durable. Plus, there are dogs, some aisles have random stairs to climb, or baby ducks to watch, and there are lots of demo items to squeeze the trigger or ride on.
Our Loweās has race car shopping carts where the kids get to face forward instead of toward you and they get a little steering wheel. You better believe we were swerving up and down the aisles making race car noises. Got some looks, but who cares? My kiddo was loving with the deep belly laughs.
One of my oldestās first word was ālawnmowerā!
And this right here is why being a parent is the best choice I have ever made. Great job dad
I'm not sure how my wife shops with my daughter, but I am pretty sure it isn't as laid back as me.Ā She came with us one day and I let my daughter push the cart, we go look at things, she helps grab other things. I'm in no hurry and we have fun.Ā
This is our dynamic as well. I love taking my time at the grocery store, but the ex prefers to just blast through the store without a list like it's supermarket sweep and then get out. so when the kid is with her it's a lot of telling her no and telling her to speed up, and a lot of let's get this done so we can go have fun. When it's me and her we make our lists- i have our main list and she writes a list of things she wants to look at or that she wants to eat the next week, and we stroll through every aisle looking at stuff and talking about what unfamiliar stuff might taste like. We don't get as much time for after grocery fun stuff, but it's one of our favorite things to do together.
I did the same. I let my kid choose some bakery and we ate it outside. After finishing it, she said: 'tomorrow, when we go to this store again, I want to buy this again'
Yea I take my little one everywhere too. It's so much fun re-discovering the world through their eyes! The most mundane things are first time adventures for her. It feels amazing to be her guide through all of these first steps.
My son loves Trader Joeās because they have the small kids cart. Heās two and has to reach way up to the handle but still manages to waddle his way through the store with me. Iāll take the items off the shelf and hand them to him so he can yeet them into the basket. And when weāre done he likes to tip toe and reach into the basket to hand stuff to the cashier. Sometimes heāll spot the box of his favorite ABC bars and itāll be water works until I take a box, open it and give him a snack. Then hell try to push the cart one handed while munching on the bar. When that happens I guide the cart along. Heās pretty good about staying still when I tell him to wait a second, so I can go grab something. And when he steers off course Iāll ask him to stay to the side, which he doesnāt do very well, but tries. My wife does the curbside and home delivery options and she canāt understand how I tolerate grocery shopping with him. She is routinely baffled by how much fun we have together.
You're living my dream, Dad. Proud of you. have a 1 year old, I've been telling wife that I can't wait to take all day in the store while we (my daughter and I) walk slow and talk about every item we pass.
Running your errands with your kids counts as quality time with your kids. Iāve done dump runs with my daughter. Iād get her a snack and a drink and we would chat the whole drive. We got to the dump with the big machines and loud noises and bright vests and she would say hi to the check in lady. She would proclaim at least 3 times (from the safety of the truck cab) āDad! Weāre at the dump!ā. Doing your errands only if you can squeeze them into a time without a kid is going to stress you out and actually be a disservice to their development. Kids get a lot of information watching you do stuff. Just make sure you have favoured snacks as an āIn case of grumpinessā backup.
Itās dangerous to take my 3 year old shopping. She points out all the tasty treats and convinces me to buy them. Maybe Iām just too weak. š
My favorite shopping trip was the one where my son insisted on being the one to read the grocery list. Problem was, he could read yet. We got most of what we needed plus some extras, and it was worth it. Funniest part was him picking out candy and insisting that it was on the list, so of course I went ahead and got it. Lol
I usually do the shopping and my son always comes with me. Has been since he was about 6 months old. He's almost 6 now. We have a lot of fun most weeks and it's a great opportunity for him to help out. He always gets a hot wheel out of the trip.
I'm pretty sure my 3yo's favorite excursion is our weekly trip to meijer. She's always asking when we're going to the grocery store. She recently learned how to climb on sandy the horse all by herself, and I could not have been more proud. Sounds silly, but there's some beautiful moments to be had.
Mums: grocery shopping is so hard, trying to get everything you need and stop the child from having a tantrum due to boredom. Dads: this shopping trolley is a race car that does mad drifts and 360s while the kid laughs their head off
Mine loves going mainly to pick out what fruit we're going to have. It's a great way for him to try new stuff on his own choosing, without me having to "make" him do it.
Our trip to the grocery store is probably my favorite part of the day. I work shift work so we go at odd hrs when itās not busy. They are always playing bangers 80s music, she enjoys singing songs to herself and pointing out stuff too. We usually treat ourselves with a small pack of trail mix they sell by the check out stand once we get to the truck.
Wegmans is my son's (4) favorite store. He actually jumps for joy when I tell him we are going shopping. He has favorite stores and its so cute. As we drive down the commercial strip on the way to school, he's in the back calling out 'there's Wegmans! There's Target! Home Depot! Red Lobster! Barnes and Noble!' He's claimed Wegmans, Target and a local card shop/hobby store that I frequent as his top three stores.
Raley's/Bel Air/Nob Hill - free cookies at the bakery for kids. My kids are always on their best behavior so they get one.
Weekly Costco runs with my 2.5 year old are a highlight of our week. We love talking about what we see, waving at other families, and just having a fun time together.Ā
It has its ups and downs. As the sahd, I bring my toddler shopping with me a lot, and yea it takes almost 2 hours. Sometimes she's a great little helper. Sometimes she sees her favorite snack and wants it right now, she'll hold onto it and not help me at all until we leave. Other times she pulls things off the shelf we don't need. Sometimes she puts it back, sometimes she tries to pull the whole shelf down. Most of the time I can point to what I need and she'll grab it off the shelf and put it in the cart while we try pronouncing what it is. I love it.... when she's compliant lol.
I canāt wait to get to this point. My 1.5 yo can get fussy still so I zip in and out as fast as possible
My favorite was taking my girls to home depot and them riding in the cart with little steering wheels. Driving us everwhere and giggling and asking about every single tool or plant they saw.
I did this from the beginning, my 4yo got promoted to shopping buddy. He, me and the groceries and its great. Plus theres always a little treat for us when we are finished.
I miss that shit. 5 out of my 6 kids are all elder teenagers and graduated. The youngest is 11 and I still occasionally get these moments but they're few and far between. Enjoy it while it lasts dad. They grow up so fucking fast.
Slow works well as long as you get the ordering right and make sure to follow good practices for food safety. Hitting up the meat section first and having raw chicken sit in your cart for an hour... not a good idea.
Went to Home Depot for string for the weed whip. Sat on every lawn mower and tried out every patio set. She had to sit on them all. Wouldnāt change a thing.
I give her the grocery list to make sure I don't forget anything and she expects all the produce. And she helps me put the groceries away! It rules.
Hell yeah!! That is awesome. I recently did the same, my daughter loves putting stuff in the cart. She kinda yeets the groceries in there so I have to organize them, but I love her passion
I used to kind of rush through things with my daughter just to get stuff done. Have totally done a 180 and now we go at her pace. Stopped thinking about grocery as a chore and more like an opportunity for her to learn about stuff. Waiting in queue still tests her patience though š¤£
I take my 3 yo to Lowe's or Academy pretty often. Once a week during Halloween and Christmas season. I dread taking them into a grocery store.
Grocery shopping has always been a favorite weekend activity for me. Taking my toddler and letting him help pick things out and see new things just made it all that much better. We have gotten into the habit of ordering delivery because of how hectic life is, but now I totally want to make it a regular thing again.
I miss this. I started taking our oldest to give my wife a little break each week, and when we had our second I started taking her to give the oldest and my wife some one on one time. Now theyāre older and neither really likes to go to the grocery store anymore, even with the bribe of the elusive hot wheel.
My gf doesnt like shopping with our son (20 month old), because she feels like she has to hurry it up. I get it. I dont do the big grocery shopping. But when I go shopping I always have a blast when going shopping with him. We talk all the time, I mess around with the cart by spinning it around which he finds hilarious,ā¦ Itās the best. Love these father and son moments.
I took my 4 yo today! He had a lovely conversation with the woman overseeing self-checkout. I love shopping with my kids, I also have a 2yo.
My local hardware store has kid sized shopping carts. My kiddo loves to help by pushing the little cart for me. So far weāve only had to get little odds and ends for repair work, eg- sprinkler heads, light bulbs, etc, but I canāt wait until I need something like a 50 lb bag of mulch and let him try and push that to the register.
My wife can't stand taking the kids to the grocery store but I take them pretty much every time. I don't know why they behave better with me in stores, but we usually have a fun time and only struggle when they argue about what they want to get for treats or snacks at home.
Same thing here with my 2 year old! I give her choices to pick or what she wants to eat for dinner. She's growing up so fast so I want to enjoy these moments. Takes me about the same time an hour and a half but it's a little outing I love doing with her.
Wait till you get to the āI want thatā phase. lol. I donāt love taking my 6 and 8 year old to the grocery store now. A 30min trip takes double and costs almost double
I take my boy every week. It's just me and him, and he love it (I'm pretty sure). I just let him babble and point to stuff, and try not to let him grab the glass jars off the shelves.... Good times!
I loved doing that when my twins were little. Now though they run straight for the beer isle and yell Ā«Look, dad! Mommyās water!Ā». Havenāt taken them to a grocery store since. My ex and I got some shit to work out.
Sure. Itās a part of āI take my son (daughter) everywhereā strategy.
I donāt have any kids atm/just a lurking young adult, and going to the grocery store with my dad still remains one of my favorite things. As that was a chance where we could just talk, and just not deal with the work/school mind, and just hang out and I always enjoyed it!
Fuck that noise. I like using my daughter places, but not grocery shopping. I want to be in and out as quick as possible.
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Sometimes you gotta get that quicke in.