Thursday, July 17, 2008

I Finally Got Smart

I absolutely hate grocery shopping. It never was one of the things I consider enjoyable in the best of circumstances. Add kids--two of them who insist on wearing heelies and finding every annoying thing to do at the worst moment--and grocery shopping drops right down there with going to the dentist or buying a car.

My husband, on the other hand, used to love it. He is completely envious of his father and tries, every time to emmulate him. I'm absolutely serious when I say my husband's grandest fantasy is to get a cart full of groceries and have the clerk pay him to take it out of the store. I'm not kidding! His dad has done that more than once but my husband hasn't even come close but he doesn't give up. So, I used to let him do the shopping by himself.

Yet, since the kids have come along, we always go as a family. I usually end up frustrated with my kids. The last time we went, I ended up being that ranting, raving mom who doesn't stop lecturing her kids. "Don't you know we need food? If we don't buy food, we can't eat. We have to go grocery shopping. Can't you behave so we can do that?" and on and on and on.

But not tonight. Tonight, I actually enjoyed grocery shopping. I can't believe I said that. I finally got smart and wrote out two grocery lists. I used my very best elementary school teacher's handwriting and wrote a list for my daughter and a list for my son. I put them in charge of getting the stuff we need. They had to check for sale prices, the right kind of product, and the sizes as well. My daughter is just learning to read so it challenged her a bit but they both loved it. They were so busy, they didn't have time to act up. LOL! They even asked if they could do it that way from now on! Yep, I finally got smart. We'll see if it stays that way. LOL!

2 comments:

debenj said...

That is an awesome way to teach the kids how to shop wisely! Never thought of doing a list for each one of them when they were younger. Hope it continues to work for you :)

Lori McDonald said...

Cool idea!!!
Maybe it would work on my hubby?!?!?!


Lori (aka Beloved Keepsakes)