Grocery Shopping

I was thinking about grocery shopping this morning. I remembered how in college I would take the bus, or go with a friend who had a car, spend about $60 for the whole month to feed me and maybe some dinner guests. I remembered how Travis and I would go shopping together for groceries and spend about $100-$150 each month.

I'm lucky if I spend under that each week! It isn't as if I'm not trying. I'm shopping at Aldi (which I love, but it doesn't have everything, and few name-brands). I mark my shopping list as I go along for every item I put into the cart, keeping a tally of the cost. I have to admit that I still buy for my "food storage" each week, meaning that I buy extras, or things that I don't need this week, but might need sometime in the next month (or two, or 12).

Still, it is very difficult for me to shave anything off my bill!

Are there things that are sneaking into the shopping cart? I once saw an ebay item for bid by a mom who went grocery shopping with her, I believe, five kids, and one of them had tossed in some trading cards after she'd told him "no!". Her narrative was so hilarious I wanted to bid myself!

I must say that I have never enjoyed grocery shopping, but it is vastly worse taking all three children. Even just with Miranda the trip is difficult. Thank you dear friend for letting my children play at your house while I went grocery shopping yesterday!

For all those moments where you feel that it would be easier to keep your children sitting quietly in a pew at church as opposed to just getting through the produce department with something that isn't moldy or the wrong type of fruit while your child is hucking tomatoes at other customers and the other child is climbing in/out of the basket, and the third is wailing at the top of her lungs because snack time was at least thirty minutes ago, there are those few moments when you have to stop and laugh:

~Hiding in the clothes racks (exasperating and sometimes a little terrifying to the mother, but oh-so-much-fun! for the child)

~Waiting in the car for mom to make a quick trip in and shouting "HEY, BUSTER BROWN!" to every passerby (I'm guilty, as charged).

~Watching in complete sympathy with a huge sigh of relief as another's child has a complete meltdown with wailing and flailing and kicking in the aisle because Mom won't buy the chocolate milk this time.

~Climbing up- baskets, shopping carts, displays, bike racks, just about any surface that will sustain a child.

Princess Pop! Megan loves to climb up on the stacks of soda cases at Aldi. I'm grateful that the sales clercks haven't gone apoplectic at the disaster that could result. But, truly, what child could resist such a perfect throne?