“I love grocery shopping with my kids!” -No parent ever.
Imagine shopping with your kids, but they stay by your cart the whole trip, don’t beg for cereals they saw on TV, and leave the store without a single tantrum! If grocery shopping were easy for parents with children,
Grocery shopping doesn’t have to be a drag: it is possible to have a bonding experience with your children where they can help you while you shop. Try these seven tips for an easier trip to the grocery store:
Use a shopping list: Create a shopping list with your children before you go to the grocery store. When you and your kids work together on your shopping list, it ensures that nothing is overlooked. Have them find the items they put on the shopping list. Use Famtastic’s shopping list to organize your shopping trip with your kids.
Let your kids help out: Kids love helping! Not only is it a good sensory activity to pick different fruits, but it gives them something to do instead of standing by the cart. This is also a good trick for your picky eaters to see and smell new fruits.
Start traditions: Give your kids something to look forward to when they go grocery shopping. Whether you choose to eat at the deli, grab a snack from the coffee shop, or stopping at their favorite fasthttp://www.landomoms.com/parenting/8-strategies-to-survive-grocery-shopping-with-kids food place, your kids will look forward to grocery shopping if there’s something to look forward to.
Reward good behavior: It’s easy to punish your child for bad behavior. However, you can’t look past their good moments in the store. Make sure you let them know what behavior is acceptable in the store and reward them for it. You can reward your child in simple ways like giving them a quarter to use in the vending machines or seeing the live lobsters and fish in the seafood section (if your stores have that, of course).
Shop at the right time: Are you going to run to the store before nap time? Before lunch? How about before bed? Unless you have no options, try to take your kids grocery shopping when they’re well-rested and in a good mood. Unless you have a tradition of eating out or having a snack at the grocery store, try feeding your kids before shopping so no one is grouchy by the time they enter the store.
Set up standards: If you don’t want your kid grabbing a handful of Tic Tacs or chocolate bars at the checkout line, let them know that you won’t be buying any candy at the store. Or if you are going to buy candy, let them know in advance that they can have candy if they behave. If they want to buy their own candy, you can also mention that they can buy one candy of their choice with the money they saved in their digital piggy bank within the app.
Bonus tip: avoid the cereal aisle at all costs!
Grocery shopping is a challenge when you have children. But when you keep your kids on their toes and entertaining them properly, there’s a chance that grocery shopping won’t be as hard. But don’t give up if nothing seems to work with your kids: as they grow older, they’ll make trips to the store easier. And when all else fails, online store pickup is the best compromise for you and your kids!