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Grocery Shopping with the Kids - it is Possible

For many, the idea of taking their children grocery shopping is a nightmare. It brings forth images of crying children (and sometimes moms and dads, too), whining, and spending more money than you had planned on. But it doesn't have to be that way. I used to hate grocery shopping with my kids as well, but as they have grown up I've found a few tricks that can make a grocery shopping trip with my children both enjoyable and educational.

As a single parent, there are many occasions when I've had to take my children grocery shopping with me. For the most part, I'd try to find someone else to watch them or try to do it when they were at school or involved in other activities, but this isn't always possible. On one such occasion, I was determined to walk into the store with a positive attitude and make this a stress free trip. Of course, as soon as we got in the store, they started to ask for things. I calmly steered them into the fruits and vegetables section and thought quickly. Out of no where, the idea came to me.

I challenged them. Children love challenges, especially if it was followed by a reward. The challenge: find a fruit or vegetable that I can't identify. The reward: the winner gets to choose anything in that department that I wouldn't normally buy (let's face it; some fruits are just too expensive for everyday purchases). The rules: no running and no yelling across the store. The quickly got to work bringing me strange looking fruits and vegetables that they hoped I could not identify. As they searched, I quickly filled the cart with in season fruits and veggies that were normally on our list. Finally, one of them brought me something brown, hairy, and kind of scary looking that I couldn't identify. Their chosen reward was a box of fruit leather that I normally didn't purchase because of the cost and because of the sugar content.

Another day we got talking about trans fat and why I wouldn't buy them certain snacks, like their friends often had in their school lunches. We looked at the labels on the back and watched for snacks that had "no trans fat" on the front. We talked about what happened to trans fat when it went into our bodies and then came the challenge. I asked them to find a snack or product in the aisle we were currently in that was trans fat free and the reward was any snack or food on that aisle that they chose that had no trans fat in it. This was a treat as well, because as a single parent I usually only bought sale products and many of the healthier foods don't go on sale very often.

There are many other things you can do to distract and occupy your children while in the grocery store. If your children are old enough a scavenger hunt can be fun. You can ask them to find a vegetable that is green, products with no sugar, or a whole wheat grain with more than 4 grams of fiber. Food rewards are good because you have to buy food anyway and they can get something they normally wouldn't get. Or they can get a sugar-free treat like gum or candies that they don't usually get to have.

Distractions and entertainment value will make shopping trips a lot easier on your children. They can learn at the same time. Your children will also enjoy spending quality time with you. When you leave, you'll have all of your groceries minus the headache of having to deal with whiny kids. And the best part? No tears - not theirs or yours!