Getting Groceries

It has reached this point: a trip to the grocery store with all three boys can reduce me to tears.

I like to go grocery shopping when Nick is in school. However, storytime and gymnastics schedules have made that impossible without a babysitter. So I have had to pack up all three kids and brave the grocery store armed with nothing but my list, a few snacks, and my knowledge of supermarket layouts.

My friend Betsy has twin girls. They are a couple of months older than Andy, meaning they cannot walk. I imagine that shopping with her two babies that can't walk must be difficult. However, I sincerely doubt either of them has ever klonked a sibling on the head with a can of soup.

The Superpermarket has carts with TV's. You pay a dollar and your kid sits in this "car" and watches The Wiggles, or Barney, or Backyardigans, and you get to shop in peace. The thing is, this costs a dollar, it just means more TV time for the kid, and my boys never sit still the whole time, anyway - at the end of the trip I'm usually pushing a TV cart with my kids galloping up and down the bread aisle shouting for hot dog buns. Also, there isn't a lot of room in these carts, so there isn't room for our groceries, let alone a baby carrier with a human baby inside it.

I usually opt for the car cart sans TV, which includes seat belts that Nathan doesn't know how to unfasten. I place Andy's carrier in the front, and keep up a steady chatter of "follow me, don't touch, watch where you're going, put that back, over here" so that Nicholas can walk through the store.

They didn't have one of those carts the other afternoon. The regular carts are shaped in a way that made it impossible to put Andy's carrier in the front basket. Which meant I had to put him INSIDE, which meant I had room for about three items. Nathan was thrilled with being able to walk. He insisted on choosing one of everything. I finally made him put his items in the cart after he hit Nick on the head with the can of soup (chicken noodle with shapes from the movie CARS). He screamed really loudly. Nicholas was constantly afraid I was going to leave Nate behind and kept shouting "NATHAN!" And helpfully yanking on Nate's arm causing him to fall down and cry before seeking retaliation (hence the hitting with the soup can). I was trying to fit a weeks worth of groceries into the bottom space under the cart. Finally, I gave up and removed Andy's carrier so we could buy milk. This meant I was holding the carrier and pushing a full cart (which still had most of the items underneath it, occasionally falling off) and Nathan decided he wanted a block of cream cheese, which he yanked off the shelf and then ran down the aisle screaming "Mine! Mine! Mine!"

I still have a bruise on the arm I was carrying Andy with, since I was pushing the cart with the inside of my elbow. And I still have nightmares.