Tip #5 For Stress-Free Shopping Trip With Toddlers

The Grocery Store is a popular exhibit among children's museums for a reason. Kids love the freedom of pulling items off the shelves and filling their mini shopping carts to the rim. Pushing their carts up and down the aisles and working the cash register, kids get a sense of what it's like to be a grown-up.

I'll enjoy giving Leap the car keys and a list in the future. For now, he's 4 and our shopping trips can be a hands-on learning experience for him. However, I'll be the first to admit, "hands on" doesn't naturally come to mind when I shop with the littles. My default mode is "hands-off" mode -

"keep your hands to yourself,"

 "don't touch/eat/open that" and

"put that back."

But, with a touch of planning, I'm confident we can have a positive hands-on trip. 

Planning is our reinforcement against a tantrum and a come-apart of our own. Having a few ability-appropriate activities prepared can help neutralize boredom, frustration, over-stimulation, and tiredness which contribute to tantrums. 

However, tantrums are a normal part of growing up, and we inevitably face them. Hands-on activities can distract a frustrated toddler, give them a bit of control, and help them through their frustration.

In our next post in the series I'll share a few specific ideas to help jumpstart a brainstorm of hands-on "Shop & Learn" activities!

If you'd be interested in sharing your own original hands-on activity with us, leave the name of your activity in a Comment.

We'd love to feature you in a future post!

Tip #4 For A Stress-Free Shopping Trip With Toddlers

There are times when my boys hold hands, walk together, stay close, and mind me when I ask them to leave things on the store shelves.

And times when they do not. Times when I don't want to shop either, and when it's a real challenge to wait for little legs to catch up. Times when it's just easier on my brain to know my boys are contained and safe.

Have a containment plan - a baby carrier, car seat, or shopping cart seat belt. For the record, I wish more Utah stores offered in-store child care!

Plush•i•fy | To make plush. 

Plushify that space. Not a real word, I know. But, we can't forget to make our child's space comfortable. Expecting a hard plastic seat and seat belt to keep our toddler happy while we stare at jars of pasta sauce for several minutes may be expecting too much. [Please don't feel bad, I totally do this.]

Tip #3 For A Stress-Free Shopping Trip With Toddlers

If you missed our previous tips, you can find them here:

Tip #1  |  Tip #2

Little Brother [2] doesn't speak in clear complete sentences yet, but he is listening and he does understand a whole lot more. Even if your toddler isn't speaking yet, it can't hurt to start communicating your [age-appropriate] expectations.

Before I leave the house, I name 1-2 specific things I expect from each boy. "Behave" is too vague. "Please keep your seat belt on when you're in the shopping cart" is more specific. Then, warn them about the consequence(s) for disobeying. I'll repeat these once we're in the car, and again just before we go into the store.

Effective consequences have a logical connection to the misbehavior. If Little Brother jets off down the aisle and ignores my call to come back, for me, losing the privilege to walk through the store would be the more logical consequence over calling off an outing to the park.

We can't forget to praise our children immediately for what they do well. In so doing, we'll help them recognize what those things are because it may not be clear to them. By our example, they'll also learn how to recognize the efforts of others and praise them.

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Discipline with love and not anger. 

For me, how I discipline has become more important than when I discipline. If you are feeling flustered or angry when your child misbehaves, wait. Consider how you want to respond. I believe there are ways to help your child relate a consequence with the misbehavior even when the consequence occurs later. 

The hope is, by arriving at appropriate consequences in advance [and when we have a cool head] we'll be better prepared to respond with coolness and love when our child does misbehave. This is the hope.

Tip #2 For A Stress-Free Shopping Trip With Toddlers

Find Tip #1 HERE

You've fed your toddler(s) [/preschooler(s)]. Now, PACK A SNACK. A super snack can pack a 4-part power-play:  

1 | draw attention from snack on store shelf, 

2 | delay any hunger pains, 

3 | occupy hands and mouth, and 

4 | hold interest. 

Can they count the number of pretzels on a pretzel necklace [pretzels on a string]? How many are left after they eat one?

As parents we have learned that offering a snack as a reward [ie. for good behavior] and withholding a snack as a punishment [ie. for poor behavior] can impact a child's emotional connection with food. 

A better choice may be to choose a reliable time and place to offer a snack that is NOT related to behavior - for example, once you're inside the store, or once you reach the apples [and ideally before a meltdown].

Tip #1 For A Stress-Free Shopping Trip With Toddlers

I turn into a monster too when I'm hungry and tired. This is one tip you'll find again and again in similar articles and posts by both mothers AND professionals. [As often as possible] Put your toddler(s) down for a nap and feed them before you head off to the store together.