Grocery Shopping Chaos

I hate grocery shopping. There is literally nothing fun about it. I especially hate grocery shopping with kids. There I said it. I hate taking my children to the grocery store because the second we walk in the door they become hungry gremlins. They want all the junk food their eyes can see, they need to urinate 18 times in the first 5 minutes, they quarrel and yell, and somehow they seem to effect time making our outing last much longer than I had hoped. So, I try to not grocery shop alone with the kids. Sometimes, when I’m really lucky and Mars is in retrograde, Primero watches the kids at home and I can grocery shop alone, in blissful silence, grinning in sheer joy at not having the little monsters whining and hitting one another while I try to find just the right head of lettuce. Anyway, lately Primero has been opting to tag along with me and the little ones. Something about my choice in food stuff being too healthy and not containing nearly enough soda.

 

So, this past weekend we slogged out in the rain (it’s been raining here a lot) to the local Aldi’s. Love Bug was particularly ornery and became downright inconsolable when I refused to buy him a box of chocolate and vanilla ice cream cones. If you’ve never been to Aldi’s, they have a different approach to grocery cart usage. Rather than unload and reload your same cart, they toss your items into an empty cart sitting beside the cashier, leaving your cart awkwardly blocking your reach of the credit card screen. Having extracted a still crabby Love Bug from our cart, Primero decided to use the empty cart that was once full of our stuff, to irritate the preschooler further. He was lifting it and pushing it into Love Bug, pinching him to the loading shelf. I told him to stop. Love Bug told him to stop. The cashier told him to stop. He did not stop. So, as I was trying to fumble for cash to pay for the groceries and walk towards them, the cashier got up walked over and took the cart away, saying she wouldn’t allow Primero to use it as a weapon.

 

Ok. So much to unpack here. First of all, please note how my children do not listen to me. Cool. Also note what choices they make when I am distracted. Chaos. Now, Love Bug was not being hurt. He was yelling but he was also laughing. He was not actually pinned. This is not to say that what Primero did was excused, nor should it be. I was literally a step behind the cashier in reaching the scene to extract Love Bug and put an end to the madness, but the cashier took it into her own hands. She called the cart a weapon. She even said it to me, “I’m sorry but I just couldn’t allow him to use it as a weapon.” Ok. But, you could cause a bigger scene wrestling it from Primero’s hands? And declaring loudly for all other patrons behind us to hear it called a weapon? I was mortified, and it takes a lot to get me to that level given what has happened with so many of the kids I’ve had in my care, and I could not get out of the building into the pouring rain fast enough. Primero was completely unabashed, thinking his behavior was totally acceptable for a technical adult. Listen, I understand the need some bystanders feel to intervene in a situation they feel is dangerous or could lead to injury. Generally, I applaud it because just standing by and not helping is not always a good decision. It’s hard to see the outside perspective when you are one of the players involved. I hold no animosity for the cashier, but I do wish she had given me an opportunity to act before she did. Mostly, I wish my kid (Primero) had listened to me instead of having a total disregard for anything I say. And now I have to rethink my grocery shopping routine once again.