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i ’ d rat h e r dr o p t han sho p
MOMMY BLOGGER
LARA BALDWIN
BLOGGER
I have a confession: I want to go to the
grocery store right now about as much as I
want to scrub my shower. That is to say, at
this particular period in my life, pulling off
an enjoyable shopping trip with my four-
year-old and infant in tow takes roughly the
coordination of a low-level CIA operation.
It wasn’t always this way. As a childless
20-something, grocery shopping was once
a near-sacred ritual: poring over cookbooks
to compile a handwritten list, divided
into categories and organized in order of
department. Just a few years and a couple
kids later, buying food has shifted from fun
to frantic. Here are a few reasons why.
The child-sized mini carts. Survey
any group of parents (I did!) about
these little pieces of hell and you
will hear overwhelmingly that we all wish
they would disappear. No good can come of
these carts. No reasonable grocery haul can
fit in one. No self-respecting toddler steers
one without testing the laws of physics by
running it into a display case.
The giant shopping carts. Those
double-wide, racecar/fire truck/
pink Cadillac themed monstrosities
require superhuman strength to maneuver
through the aisles. They may have more
seating than my college dorm room but
are about as productive as one for
actual shopping.
The snacks. No matter how much
I feed and water them before we go
to the store, my kids are suddenly
starving and begging me to buy and open
(not necessarily in that order) the boxes
and bags of goodies they can see from
their throne.
The parking lot. Safely getting from
store to car with grocery bags and
children all in one piece resembles a
game of Frogger. Not to mention the moral
predicament that inevitably follows regarding
the return of the cart (do I leave the kids
alone in the car to run it back, or leave it
stranded in the parking lot like a jerk?).
When I ask my mom squad for help with
these challenges, the solution is usually
a mix of avoidance (one friend gets up at
5 a.m. to go grocery shopping alone before
her husband leaves for work) and bribery
(another says she has no qualms with
ripping open a bag of popcorn and
paying for it at checkout).
Personally, I am determined to find some
solutions that are not quite so desperate.
Just as soon as I scrub this shower.
■
ALABAMA Grocer introduces a new column with a unique
perspective – a mommy blogger. Lara Baldwin is a
Millennial mother of two who, with the help of her
online community, will provide insights into one of your
most important customer demographics.
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