Tetris anyone?

Grocery shopping with two small children can be described as a challenge at best and a downright nightmare at its worst. In a standard shopping cart, I put Morgan's carrier in the seat and Joshua sits in the main basket. Well I have a hard time seeing around/over the carrier and then Joshua is getting all knocked around in the basket. Plus, there is virtually no room for groceries. It's a bit like playing Tetris, how to fit the most groceries neatly in the cart without actually burying Joshua in the process. That is why I am a big fan of Costco, their carts have two seats. However, not everything needs to be purchased in bulk and it is pretty far away.
Some stores have the shopping carts that look like race cars and those are good and bad. Good because Joshua LOVES them and bad because if he sees one, but we can't use it for whatever reason, he throws a fit. He also usually has a fit when he has to get out of the cart. The race cars at my local Fry's have two seats in them, which I think I need to take advantage of more regularly. Here is a picture of a Home Depot cart. Fry's are the same style and design, just different colors.




All of this set-up takes us to my shopping trip today. I decided to brave it and go during a peak SAHM(stay at home mom) shopping time, 10:30am. I drove up and down the aisles to see if I could find an unused race car. None in the parking lot, but one by the exit. I find the closest spot I can and book it to the cart. Diaper bag, purse, and 18 lb baby on one arm, and Joshua's wrist in my other hand. I decided the best course of action was to keep Morgan out of the carrier and she could sit next to Joshua in the seat. Well, as I load Morgan into the seat and buckle her in, Joshua totally loses it. Joshua did NOT want to share his sweet sweet ride. On top of that, the seat belt in those things are really low on the waist and not much use in helping keep Morgan propped up.
I am so bummed I did not have a camera, because it was so cute and hilarious all at once. Joshua is screaming his head off, and Morgan is just sitting happy as can be, propped up with her blanket and my purse.
Here is the good news, Joshua calmed down eventually. Once he figured out he could still have both steering wheels, he was okay with the arrangement. He also found it amusing that from time to time Morgan's foot would manage to turn the steering wheel and she was driving with her, "Foot! Foot!" The better news is that I had a full size shopping basket to fill to my hearts content.

Two last little tidbits about grocery shopping.
1. I use the self-check lines almost exclusively. So today I had to hand every grocery item to Joshua, so he could hand it back to me and I could then scan it. (He got used to handing me items when he sat in the basket.)
2. The other day I brought those plastic reusable shopping bags and actually used a real cashier. I think the cashier's need some training on bagging with those reusable bags. Just because a gallon of milk, a 1/2 gallon of milk, and an 8 lb pork roast will fit in one bag, doesn't mean you should do it.

I think tomorrow I will post a list of tips for grocery shopping with kids. It's pretty much an art.