Ever since I had Phoenyx, everything has become a challenge. Eating, sleeping, bathing, I mean everything. And while the grocery store has never been my favorite chore even with just Charlotte (mommmmmy, can we please look at the toys?), it has become an even bigger “DON’T MAKE ME DO IT PLEASE GOD” moment than ever before.
Have you ever tried to push a stroller and a cart at the same time?
Exactly.
Oh, Oh, and if for some reason you are thinking what a moron I am not to take the seat out and put on the shopping cart, I may have neglected to tell you that I am a whopping 5 foot tall and the seat makes the cart height somewhere around 6’2″. I feel sorry for the ankles of the people that inadvertently get in front of my unsuspecting driving.
So last week when I went to Target I piled items in the bottom of my stroller and just waited for security to attack me for theft. I had all sorts of items crammed under there which worked pretty well for about 5 minutes till I needed to add bread and chips.
Poor little P was hidden amongst all the food and I must have looked like a crazy lady. In fact, I know I looked like a crazy lady. Now yesterday I got smart and enlisted Charlotte to be a big sister and push the stroller. This went well for the most part, but she could not keep herself from waking him up and I think I said “Charlotte! GET UP HERE” 45 times as she lollygagged behind me just waiting to get her and the stroller kidnapped.
Although I spent somewhere in the neighborhood of $180, and somehow Charlotte managed to finangle me into a water, two craft projects, and a box of cookies neither one of us needed, we did make it out alive.
Barely.
Now you tell me, how do you manage the store with your kids?
You can read other momversation moms and their trips to the grocery store here.
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It’s no question that I go to the store constantly.
You would think with one child who wont eat more than mac n cheese and chicken nuggets and one child that is on a never ending supply of formula I fondly refer to as “liquid gold”, that my bill would only be something like cheese, milk, juice, southern tea (duh), and bread.
Nope. Not even close.
Cause I am someone that cannot stand for the life of me leftovers. In fact, there are two meals that I will eat left over…baked goods (does that count?) and tortellini salad. That actually tastes better the next day after it marinates in the vinegar, yum, yum. I am sure there are plenty of clever ways to mix up some pasta sauce from last nights Italian dinner and create a meatball sandwich that would make even Subway proud, but I am a “heat, eat, and trash the rest” kinda girl.
It;s almost embarrassing to say that, but it makes me literally gag to reheat meat and I can;t stand soggy veggies. Actually, I cant stand soggy ANYTHING. If my bread so much as touches sauce on my plate, Ill eat around it.
*inside shudder*
Convince me..how do you do leftovers in your house?
~Trisha
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This conversation was sponsored by Ragu Sauce and Momversation. We’re all on a mission to feed our kids well. Sometimes it sure isn’t easy. From odd eating habits to getting enough veggies, we’ve got stories and bet you have too. Ragú® is calling all Moms to come together to talk about what really happens at dinnertime – to share challenges and triumphs, to celebrate the small wins together. To take action, speak up and be heard.
Now you tell me, how do you manage the store with your kids?
I’m lucky enough that my kids are older now and they usually go off together while I shop. However, that doesn’t mean that they don’t find tons of stuff to put in my cart – unwelcomed. When they were younger I would put my son in the cart and fill groceries around him since I’m short too.
Convince me..how do you do leftovers in your house?
Since my husband and I both work outside of the home we bring them for lunch and reheat. A lot of times there are different recipes for leftover s that we make….for instance if we have left over mashed potatoes we make potato pancakes the next day.
hmmm … I haven’t the kids to the store for as long as I remember. You need to babywear in the grocery store. I am a short one too and it was too tall for me so I babyweared in the grocery store and Sam’s Club. Man was that a work out! The other option is to pull the buggy instead of pushing it. You will get odd looks but it works. I have done it when I had a sleeping kid or forgot a carrier!
You would hate our house. Thursdays is leftovers night … every single week. Leftovers are part of our budget and meal planning efforts though. We have gotten better about freezing some stuff so it gets rebaked or finishes cooking when it comes out of freezer and is just as yummy the first time around!
I take all 3 of them with me, always have. The best suggestion I can give is to get a wrap and put the baby in it. Most likely he will sleep in the wrap and you can be HANDS free with a wrap! They are so secure and comfy! Here is the one I made and there is NO SEWING INVOLVED! http://wearyourbaby.com/Default.aspx?tabid=121
I hate leftovers- mostly because I’d rather cook something new! I enjoy cooking & it relaxes me. Because I like to cook so much, we do have lots of leftovers, but I can usually pawn them off on my Hubby or son since I don’t like them.
Leftovers. My husband is good with leftovers- he actually complains when I cook and there are still leftovers in fridge. My kids have no choice- if I say leftovers, they will eat it lol. we eat leftovers sometimes as is and other times I’ll create something with leftovers- pot pies with leftover chicken or roast dinners. If we have tacos the next day I’ll use the beef for chilli, nachos, lasagna, or pizza topping. Chicken or beef Stir fry can be wrapped in a tortilla throw in cheese and toast it. Burgers and fries sometimes I’ll turn it into a casserole-like dish that includes beef patties(with parsley/onion) potatoes and a tomato paste based sauce served with rice.
With the twins I had no problems going grocery shopping with them, for the most part they always stay beside me.. Following me aisle to aisle helping me find what we need. Thankfully they never wandered off in the grocery store. But…On Monday I walked to the market beside my house with the twins and for the first the baby- in the stroller. Holy crap was that tough! It was a hassle holding an overflowing grocery basket and steering a stroller(something I haven’t done in over 2 years). I appologized a billion times to random people who I almost ran my stroller into. My kids couldn’t hold a French bread without complainingso they were no help at all. I doubt I’ll be going grocery shopping with the kids/baby for a while- my husband will have to take over.it will be up to my husband on whether we will starve or not lol.
I’m like you…I don’t like leftovers either. I will eat pizza, pasta salad, and chinese coleslaw leftover and that’s it.
As for grocery shopping…I HATE taking my kids and they are 5 and 7. They drive me crazy at the grocery store so I go after work when I know my husband can be there. Also, with the shopping cart…it’s not safe to put the carrier up there anyway. I saw a carrier fall from the cart once. Totally scarred me for life
Great questions! I have an answer for the leftovers one. I DO like leftovers (because I love my own cooking lol), but there never seem to be any! I make enough for an army, and yet there is never any left for me for lunch the next day. I have found something that works though. Right after I make dinner, I put a bit in a container BEFORE everyone else eats. It works great because they don’t eat as much (good thing), and I have lunch for the next day
When kids come with me grocery shopping, Steven is usually with me. We split up and both tackle part of the store to get through faster and NEVER grocery shop when girls haven’t ate.
Our grocery store has free homemade tortilla samples and then free cookies from the bakery, so we stagger the samples throughout the trip to survive!
My kids are a bit bigger so they go to either the book section or the electronic section. I feel you having to go with a new baby though.
Kas
Now that my boys are older it’s not too bad to take them to the store alone. I know it may be an awful thing to do, but I bribe them with candy from the checkout if they are good the entire time we are shopping. It usually works!
When they were little I just refused to go to the grocery alone with them. They were only 26 months apart and it was just too difficult. I really don’t know how single mamas do it!
I don’t do the grocery shopping anymore. I send Ryan!
I only have my three year old son, and I usually have to take him when I go grocery shopping. He is generally pretty good…we always have to stop and look at the lobsters, and I keep him otherwise content by letting him play with my calculator.
As for leftovers…blech! I can’t stand them. I do make exceptions for pizza and desserts, but that’s about it.
I do take my kids shopping. I have four. Even if I go when the older two are in school, I have the 2 yr old twins to wrangle. When they were infants, I’d put them in the cart, but I am short and had the same issues as you. Plus with two carseats in the cart, there’s virtually no room for food. Then I started wearing one and putting the other in his seat in the cart.
Once they could sit, I’d smush them both into the front seat- Here’s a photo of them at Toys R Us- http://www.tatertwins.com/2010/02/01/shopping-and-nosy-rude-grannies/
But then they got too big to share… so I’d put one in the back. (Do you have a bumbo? works great when they’re not sitting so well if you put it in the cart! P is probably still too young for that, but soon.)
Then, they got older and feistier and started tossing stuff out if they were in the back, so I went back to wearing one. But they’re freakin heavy…
I’ve been known to drag a cart full of groceries while pushing a double stroller.
I suggest using a baby carrier for sure. It’ll keep your hands free and he’ll always be safe. I avoid at all costs taking the kids shopping. I have the luxury of having a teen at home, that allows me to shop allow or just with rob.
I pretty much threaten to beat them if I take them.. I’d rather leave them screaming at the door at home with their dad than take them with me. If I do have to take them I make sure to do it with just 1 of the 4 the boys hate to shop so it makes it 10x worse. If I manage to just have 1 of the girls I usually give them a job to do like holding the coupons or finding a product.
Leftovers are a joke around here. Last week I cleaned out my fridge that went from super packed to damn we have no food in less than 4 mintues. We love to save it but hate to eat it.
I take both kids shopping on a weekly basis. I border on slightly insane.
The baby goes in the carrier and she is content the entire time. Then it is a matter of dealing with the 5 year old.
I am so glad I don’t have the only kid who wants to go look at toys every time we enter the store.
My boys are a bit older now so I have them help me out by having them pick up certain items and add it to the cart. The older one is a bit more helpful than the youngest since he prefers hanging out on the toy aisle but all in all when they help it really helps in shortening the time spent in the store and I’m not repeating myself over and over again.
My boys are a bit older now so I have them help me out by having them pick up certain items and add it to the cart. The older one is a bit more helpful than the youngest since he prefers hanging out on the toy aisle but all in all when they help it really helps in shortening the time spent in the store and I’m not repeating myself over and over again.
I take my daughter grocery shopping with me. It’s amazing what the promise of a donut will do for a 2 year old. Luckily donuts are near the end so she has to be good through most of the store to get one.
I would just put Noah in the cart, and shop. I used to hate shopping because it took forever, and by the end of it I would be so angry and grumpy I would be so happy when I left. A good stress reliever is push the car as hard as you can when it is empty in to the cart thing in the parking lot.
As for Leftovers, we just eat the same meal again. There is usually just one day’s worth of leftovers I don’t do anything fancy with them.
I don’t. lol I only go to the grocery store when I am able to either leave the kids with my husband or another relative. I refuse to take them shopping. With 3 kids age 3 and under it is a nightmare to go shopping with them! If I absolutely have to go to Target they have the carts where I can strap the two older ones in and put the infant seat in the cart. It’s ridiculous though. As for leftovers I hate them too. Luckily my hubby takes any leftovers from the night before to work the next day and eats them for lunch. He is crazy though because he likes them so much he will even eat them cold. yuck!
I’m the only one that does leftovers in this house. So we try to just make enough that we won’t have them.
But, since I only have one child it makes the grocery store a little easier. Most of the time I’ll try to do it on my way home from work or picking her up from school, but if she is with me she knows that she has to stay close and either sit in the car or help me push it. Having her help me push it really distracts her enough that she doesn’t think of doing other things.
I bring DH with me, and he will wear the baby, and B will walk since he’s 6. That gives DH 2 hands to keep B out of the way and can chit-chat with him while I do the shopping. I’m the same way, 5 foot even and trying to put the car seat on top of the cart, or even down inside the cart is impossible. It’s also nice to have DH there so if I’ve forgotten something that he needs or wants, he’s there to remind me right then and there, not when I get home.
For leftovers, DH takes those to work or we have a “left overs” night and clean out the fridge. Pizza, though, becomes an easy breakfast.
When Loch was first born, I would ask my mom to stop by after she worked to watch the kids for an hour while I shopped.
Once Loch was around … 3 months … I started taking them both out. Keegan woul dhave been around 2. I never put Loch on the top of the seating area in his child seat, what a lot of parents used to do but now you don’t see that as much anymore. I’d put his seat in the big basket area … where food is supposed to go. And Keegan would sit in the seat. And then I’d put groceries AROUND Lochlan and underneath the cart.
When Lochlan was old enough to sit a little, I switched it. Lochlan sat in the seat area and Keegan sat in the basket area with the food.
Once Lochlan was sturdy enough to sit in a 2-seated cart I was THRILLED.
Now Keegan is in school, so just Loch and I go shopping. He’s almost 4 now *gasp*. So it’s a lot easier nowadays to grocery shop.
As for leftovers – it’s food and I hate to waste. Sometimes I just recreate it. Chicken turns into enchiladas the next day. KWIM? And my husband will eat almost anything. Makes it easy for leftovers to disappear.
I have always shopped with my kids. When the boys were toddlers we drove an hour each way to the grocery store. We spent about 3 hours shopping. It was hard but I would usually give them food to eat so it was bearable. With the girls it’s pretty much the same thing. You know honestly my hardest shopping trips are not with the kids but with my husband! I can’t stand grocery shopping with him, he just makes it harder (and more expensive).
I don’t eat leftovers either, but my husband does, so they are his lunch!
As for grocery shopping, if I can’t leave my 2 year old with Daddy, and I HAVE to take both kids into the store, I put Vinnie (11 weeks now) in the Moby wrap and put Luke (2) in the shopping cart’s seat.
If I REALLY don’t want to “wear” Vinnie, I put his car seat in the main part of the cart, Luke in the seat, and my diaper bag/purse underneath. Then I carefully arrange the groceries around & under the car seat or on the bottom of the cart. Obviously I can’t buy as much when I do it this way, but if its a short trip it works. (I don’t like to leave Vinnie in his car seat for long trips anyway, so I almost always use the carrier if it is a big grocery day.)
I have 3 children and we get paid bi-weekly, so we usually do two huge grocery shops per month, aside from picking perishables like milk. There are only two ways I can do it . . . if my husband comes with me and watches the kids and who help me grab a few easy things off my list while I do the real shopping or I get groceries delivered through Peapod.
I don’t mind reheating leftovers that were originally made one day ago. After that, we usually discard the food.
Usually, we tag-team it. Either my husband does the shopping alone or I come along and we put the girls in one cart and the food in the other. When I got by myself with the girls, I tend to put them both in the cart and just pile food on top of them!
As for left-overs, we bring them to work most days for lunch so we don’t waste money or food.
I would put my infant carrier in the back of the cart…like sideways hanging over my groceries.
This probably isn’t the answer you were hoping for, but we rarely do leftovers in my house. My husband and daughter refuse to eat them, so it’s usually me that eats them for lunch or they get thrown away. It kills me! I am always trying to cook less and less to avoid it!
I have a 4 and 2 1/2 year old, and yes, I do take them shopping with me. It’s crazy – the 2 1/2 year old is now a ‘big girl’ and insists on walking, so I have some moments where I’m hissing threats at them. For the most part, though, they stick by me and listen. Do I always get everything on my list? Nope. Do we sometimes leave the store for a time out? Yep. It’s exhausting!
One thing that I used to do when my baby was little like P was put her in a carrier of some sort – then I could still use the cart space. It gets better
I’m 5’8″ and had no idea that shorter people would have the problem you do with the cart being too tall w/ the carrier on it! I think the suggestion someone else said – to put Pheonyx in a sling type carrier might be the way to go, your hands would be free to push the cart and Charlotte wouldn’t have to be zooming around with the stroller. It might kill your back though if it’s a long shopping trip!
As for leftovers, soups are a favorite and often are even better when reheated the next day (or two)! Almost any kind of cooked chicken is good to eat as chicken salad the next day. I don’t like soggy either so there aren’t a whole lot of foods I like leftover.
When my kids were little I didn’t take them to the store with me. My husband and I would flip a coin for who had to go to the store and who stayed home. It worked perfectly.
I’ve been in that same situation in the grocery store. However I would usually still put my youngest son in the top of the cart and just continually peer behind it. If I was doing small grocery shopping I would put the carrier in the back of the cart and load up groceries around him as much as possible. I also did the push the stroller thing when my daughter was young and my son came with me but ran into the same situation either lagging behind or running into people.
Going grocery shopping is very stressful with two kids that is for sure.
We don’t usually have a lot of leftovers. In fact my daughter is forever throwing out food. Usually if we do leftovers it is for a quick snack or lunch the next day but never for another dinner meal. Meat cooked the next time doesn’t taste nearly as good and is usually over cooked and dry.
I didn’t mind taking them when they were little and in seats because I just put the seat on the cart. But NOW I don’t like taking them because what should be a 30 minute trip turns into about 2 hours because of fighting, wanting this. I can’t just go in and get what I need it’s a battle ground when I bring the kids. They want this they want that and then I am breaking up arguments I forget what I came for LOL
When my kids were little I hated taking them to the grocery store. One of the expensive grocery stores near us had a play area, where you could leave kids between 3-8 for supervised play for an hour while you shopped. It was great, and made it worth shopping at the more expensive store.
Lollipops. The kids start acting up here’s a lollipop. Though they do love the big blue race car shopping cart. They leave me alone when they are in that lol
I’m the same height as you are. My girls are 2 year apart. I’m a single mom. I’d either but the baby in a sling and push my 2 year old in the cart, or I’d put the baby in the car seat and put it on top of the cart, and put my 2 year old in the big part of the cart. I always had to shop with both girls – I didn’t have a choice.
try to only take one child with me, if any. Luckily they can stay home with their dad. Of course the promise of a cookie from the bakery helps too.
I hate taking Owen grocery shopping and he’s 6. He still sits in the cart because well it’s easier and he’s a skinny-mini type so he fits in the top part of the cart fine except like you I can’t see so Jeff pushes the cart lol. As for left overs …. sadly I don’t use them unless it’s something I know I love. I’m trying to push myself harder at using them though because I know they will save us more money.
As a couponer, the store experience is already a stressful one. Add a toddler to the mix and I don’t always make it out alive! LOL I find it best, as you said, to give my son something to do while I shop. He likes to hold the list and cross off each item as we go {although I do have to take the pen between items or he starts crossing off EVERYTHING}.
Grocery shopping has become a major pain since both my 2 and 3 year olds want to walk and not ride in the cart. I’ve become firm that they need to hold onto the cart ALL THE TIME or they immediately go in the cart. Needless to say, shopping on my own with the two kiddos isn’t fun for any of us, and I feel like a bossy drill sargent by the time we leave.
That being said, going in the morning and bringing a detailed list goes a long way for making the experience better, but I prefer to go at night or on a weekend so I can shop in peace and get what I need.
Plus, for some reason my favorite Super Target is THE social gathering place. I always run into at least one person I know, and I’d rather look like a calm, normal woman getting some shopping done rather than a crazy, frazzled mom barking orders to her kids!
Tim does the grocery shopping so I can’t answer the way a normal person would. LOL. But I will say that I also relate to the car seat being too tall so I can’t see over it and then I always had to put it in the big part of the cart and the food would be all around the baby. LOL. Awful.
Lee
I don’t take the kids with me to the store! Lucky for me both of my kids are in school all day so I can supermarket sweep (because I literally hate it so much I run through) without them!
I’m sorry I can’t give you a tip on lEft overs. I have learned to cook for 4. I do not eat them and no one else does either. We never ate em growing up, so yeah.l not happening now!
I take both kids grocery shopping with me EVERY TIME. I am not a driver at the moment and my husband takes me to the store so I have an extra set of hands, that help makes all the difference. When Avery was a newborn I took both kids to the store solo and I wore Avery in the sling and pushed Aedan in the cart. We lived.
Haha! I go grocery shopping at 10pm when my husband is home to take care of kids (while they sleep) and I can have some peace and quiet at the grocery store. It’s nice because mostly they’re re-stocking the shelves then, and I can get fresh(er) produce that way!
When I have had to go to the store with a toddler and an infant – I would wear the infant and put the toddler in the cart. Lately now that my infant is getting older – I try to nab those special cars that have two seats – or put the older child in the big end of the cart and the little one up front.
Also: the grocery store nearby allows you to give your child an apple for free. So each boy gets an apple.. and man – Ethan (my 11mo old) he can spend hours on one apple – and it keeps him fully entertained through the store.
Before we went to this store that allowed that: I would start in the produce section and pick up a container of blueberries or something that is not sold by weight and easy to eat – and the kid(s) would snack on that while I shopped.
If my husband is with – he usually gets more burnt out than the kids do, and thinks that they need constant entertainment. Crazy, I know. SO I get so frustrated searching for him with my grocery cart and the kids while my arms are loaded with STUFF! We’re done inviting daddy to our grocery shopping trips.
Leftovers?? For leftovers I simply just ‘reheat’. I’ve rarely ‘re-invented’ or ‘new-mealed’ anything. There are a few meals that I will eat left-overs for – mostly my casserole style meals.
However. I’m simply PARANOID about leftovers in my fridge. I never put them there. I contain them in a glass pyrex container and freeze them immediately. Then I heat them in the microwave or oven. I can’t have a leftover that sat more than a few hours in a fridge. Just can’t do it.
I just wrote you a book. Sorry.
There are two scenarios for grocery shopping for our family of 5.
1. We ALL go at the same time so Jon can wrangle the kids while I get the food.
2. He watches the kids at home so I can go and peacefully shop. Sometimes this means I have to grocery shop super late at night which is more peaceful anyways.
I have no idea how I got so lucky but all three of my kids havenever acted up in stores, they may throw fits at home but thankfully never in public. I also got lucky where I had my husband or someone to watch the kids. Now that I have a teenager he is my favorite to take because he helps with the heavy lifting!
I’m with you on the tortellini salad, I love the leftovers for that!
I bring Mason to the grocery store and it’s a hassle always is. But I’ve discovered that he will sit in the cart for a little if he’s helping me put things in the cart and then once he gets antsy I wear him in my Boba! It works great!
As for left overs my favorite thing to do is make casseroles! I love throwing everything in one dish, smothering it with cheese popping it in the oven and calling it a meal! you’d be surprised the things that taste good together lol!
I do everything I can to avoid taking the kids to the store with me. Usually I go after my husband gets home. I remember my baby’s carseat being so dang heavy that I could barely lift him from the car to the store in that thing! I agree with babywearing.
Thankfully, my daughter is still at an age where she enjoys sitting in the cart and taking everything in. I don’t know what I’m going to do when the novelty of riding in the cart is over!
Well, now that my kids are a bit older, I have my daughter in the shopping cart and my son holds onto the cart. Yes, they fight, and sometimes throw fits, but so far it has worked out. If they start acting up, we leave.
I did take my daughter shopping with me when she was younger, but then she is an only – so it was much easier. But I would stop at the café area at Target or MickeyD’s at Walmart and load her up with popcorn/icees or fries/chocolate milk, stick her in the seat (yes even at 4 years old, and I’m only 4’9″ tall…) and then we’d go on our merry way. When the food was done, I made sure that I had a calculator (that was before smart phones, LOL!) in my purse for her to play with. I tried to never be out for more than 1 1/2 or 2 hours at a time though – longer than that, and she’d make me stir crazy!
My secret (not really a secret) to shopping with kids is Fred Meyer! They have a play place for kids 2-5ish. It’s kind of like a daycare type thing, but you get an hour for FREE while shopping!! Seriously, is my life saver!!
omg, really? Thats amazing.
I have to take my youngest grocery shopping but they have race car buggies so it’s much easier to keep him entertained. I also have to check all the groceries when the cashier is checking me out because my youngest has put some things in the buggie without me looking.
I avoid shopping with my kids at all costs. I tend to go shopping after my husband is home and they are in bed asleep (so he can’t call me 80 hundred times to ask when I’m coming home.) But when O was small if I had to take them with I would put the carrier in the cart or baby wear. (You should totally wear P, then you don’t have to worry about the stroller/carrier issue. Doesn’t he really like to be in the sling? I thought I remembered you saying that…)
As for leftovers, we eat them, only because I just can’t justify throwing the food away and I haven’t mastered cooking just the right amount. I have found that reheating on the stove or in the oven makes for much better leftovers that aren’t soggy though. I’m not a fan of soggy either.
Heck no, I just do not do it. I reserve my shopping time for when 3 of my 4 boys are in school. That leaves me with just the toddler in tow who is very happy in the shopping cart, so long as I bring snacks and water. On the rare occasion that I do bring all 4 of them to say Target, I grab one of those big monster carts that sits 3 kids. When my youngest was still in the infant carrier, I would put the carrier inside the cart. I’m not all that tall either at 5’4″ , plus I never feel that those seats are secure enough sitting on top of the cart.
I have become *that* mom at the Grocery store… The one everyone feels sorry for. I know this because I have people stopping me left and right with their comments. It gets to be embarrassing … Am I the only mom who takes three little ones with her to the store?
As for leftovers, I am picky about leftovers… I have had to learn how to cook “smaller” so that we dont have a lot just hanging around. BUT, after cooking, I freeze any leftovers that will freeze well (soups, chili, pulled pork, etc.) … I have found that I really like doing this. We only eat it once (instead of several days in a row) and then on busy nights, I can pull out that “leftover” and it is an easy meal night.
P.s. I have started doing what others have mentioned, wearing the baby in a sling. He ends up sleeping (whereas if I left him in the car seat he would scream) and then the shopping cart seats are free for my 2 and 4 year old.
I try and avoid shopping with the kids, but for the most part I am stuck taking them once a week to get the basics. Big shops I go in the evening and leave them with hubby even if it means missing out on some specials. It’s just too stressful trying to wrangle kids and food and get everyone through the store and safe to the car. There once was a time when I didn’t blink twice about heading out with 5 kids under 7 though. Somehow when they were younger they listened better and fought less. I did a fair amount of stroller shopping too.
I do most of my grocery shopping when the kids are at school, when they do go with me though they are big enough just to talk next to my cart.