Bug,  shopping

the world’s smallest grocery shopper

February 19, 2008 /

the world's littlest shopper

We went shopping today. Obviously. A picture is so much more efficient than anything I could say on the matter. But of course that won’t stop me from rambling.

I timed our shopping trip a little too close to naptime for comfort so I thought it would be smashing fun to let Baby Bug push her own little wee cart. Also, Toby is going on a business trip for 2.5 weeks and I am going on a dinner-cooking strike. So that means I don’t need to shop for so much. I can put everything we need into a cute little wee cart. (I love using the word “wee”.) Food is overrated. We can eat cold corn right out of the can when Toby is gone. Or pizza. Either one.

So anyway, back to the smashing fun of shopping with Baby Bug who was NOT strapped into the safety of a regular grown-up sized cart. Yeah…it wasn’t so much fun. Unless you think of fun and smashing your head against a wall in the same sentence. She was one grumpy, nap-needing, tenacious little shopper and how dare I interfere with her quest to put all the green products in the cart.

I exaggerate some. Obviously it was fun enough for me to whip out the camera and take some photos.

green diapers mommy!

“Green Diapers Mommy”

no green cheese, moving on...

Things we ended up with that were not on our shopping list:

1. a pineapple
2. a green apple
3. a “mommy lime” and a “baby lime”
4. a can of pineapple (I think this is purely because the label was green, not because she is loving pineapple
5. a can of tomatoes (who knows)
6. three 20 cent jello cups from Mexico
7. some watermelon-flavored kid shampoo
8. two skor bars (scored major point with daddy on that one)

Things I put back when she wasn’t looking:

1. balogna
2. a pack of jumbo-sized hot dogs
3. a pack of hard plastic sparkly headbands (those things give you a headache!)
4. some stupid baby bottle sour apple candy thingy
5. an Easter bunny
6. a tub of non-fat organic sour cream (we buy full-fat everything since bb is underweight)
7. four bottles of green shampoo
8. some green hair smoothing serum (has she been talking to whoorl?)
9. green shamrock cookies
10. a green package of feminine napkins
11. and some other green things I cannot remember

building an arsenal

Clearly, the marketers behind grocery products have taken toddlers with small carts and a preference for green into consideration.

46 Comments

  • Clownfish

    February 19, 2008 at 4:06 pm

    Great photos of your micro-shopper. She looks like she was on a shopping mission for sure.

    Did I tell you I dig your header? – Well, I DIG it! (Always love the tropical/island feel)

  • ioi

    February 19, 2008 at 4:07 pm

    I love those little wee carts! Those and the ‘CAR’ carts really make shopping with toddlers so much easier. My kids LOVE to push their little carts, or ‘drive’ the car carts. It makes a little more room for groceries too, when you’re cart isn’t full of kids before you even get into the store!

  • sizzle

    February 19, 2008 at 4:37 pm

    i love that last photo where it looks like she is carefully weighing the pros and cons of which conditioner and hair products to purchase. maybe you guys hang out with whoorl too much? ;)

  • Kuky

    February 19, 2008 at 4:43 pm

    Hee hee little shopping carts are so cute! Does baby bug push them into things? We’ve only gone once to a grocery store with a little shopping cart. I had a big shopping cart and the honey was helping Isabelle with her little cart and she was pushing it all willy-nilly. My honey said it was hard work trying to keep her from ramming people and things but Isabelle had a blast putting stuff in her little cart. Or maybe she was having a blast trying to ram people and things? ;-D

  • whoorl

    February 19, 2008 at 5:09 pm

    We just got back from the grocery store too. I had to secure a balloon from the second I walked into the door after he started yelling. “HEYYYYYYY BAOOOOON! HEEEEEYYYYYY BAOOOON!” at the top of his lungs.

  • bethany v

    February 19, 2008 at 7:58 pm

    you’re brave! letting her roam that is … perhaps I’ll dare in a few months but currently stick with removing whatever he’s managed to grab while in the backpack (we have VERY narrow aisle here :).

    love the green diapers :) ever seen that email about napkins for ‘special occasions’ being used to set the table for company?!

    hope the 2.5 weeks goes well too, it sounds long.

  • Michelle

    February 19, 2008 at 8:11 pm

    Green diapers – that’s hilarious, and the “Has she been talking to Whoorl?” was too! Hey, we have that very same bread in our fridge!

  • Betsy

    February 19, 2008 at 8:32 pm

    Every time my friend Sarah and I are out shopping and see something green, we think of Baby Bug. And she has inspired the both of us to add a bit more green into our wardrobes too.

  • CC

    February 19, 2008 at 9:11 pm

    She can go shopping with me, I buy the green shampoo for the girls and the green feminine products. She’d be ecstatic, until we got home and she realized she couldn’t do anything fun with them. And minus the headbands and sour cream I probably would have bought all the other stuff you put back too. Because of course I’d let her try the sour candy just to see the look on her face. and green shamrock cookies are a must.

  • Ashley

    February 19, 2008 at 9:24 pm

    You’ve got her on the right track, although I’d try to discourage the only green shopping theory. It may work well for her in the produce aisle but if she starts chosing only green things in the meat department, she may not be a happy shopper.

  • Gramma

    February 19, 2008 at 9:33 pm

    Believe it or not, my Saturday grocery shopping was my “vacation” because the kids got to stay home with Dad. I had to promise to bring home lots of boxes so the gang could make a train from the kitchen through the dining room and living room. We had an engineman (can’t say engineer because Daddy was one) and a caboose. with lots of cars loaded with soft stuffed toys, teddy bears and siblings between.

  • Jamie W.

    February 20, 2008 at 7:51 am

    Ha! Green diapers…too funny. My Bruiser brings me tampons and tells me “here’s your MEDICINE, mommy!”

    What is the blue box with the yellow star?

    BB is so cute and makes me want to buy her a green treat the next time I am out and about.

  • Lexi

    February 20, 2008 at 11:56 am

    I CAN’T STAND the ‘wee’ carts…..Jordan pushes them up and down the aisles at top speed, crashing into anything in his way. Also, he loves to shop, and the bank of mommy apparently has no limit. But he limits his purchases to stuff for him….toys, candy….

    The bad thing? Eventually, memory improves, and you won’t be able to get away with sneaking stuff back out of the cart. One day after we came home from the store, Jordan asked me where his suckers were. Oops.

  • chris

    February 20, 2008 at 2:14 pm

    You are going to have so much fun when baby bug is a teen. You can pull out all these photos and say things like you had no problem buying feminine hygiene products when you were two. Just tell yourself you are buying green diapers and you’ll be fine. ;)

  • Gingermog

    February 20, 2008 at 2:16 pm

    You are a cool mom letting BB have such fun in the grocery store. Sorry I have not be commenting much recently, I need some R & R time to read through your last week or two worth of posts. It looks like you have been busy. I hope things are looking up for your brother and sister in law. I am worried about her tooth forming an abcess and slowly poisoning her system. I had one of those things once, it can make you have symptoms like your coming down with flu, even if you have no tooth pain. Nasty. Thinking of you and your family. xxx

  • BeachMama

    February 20, 2008 at 4:54 pm

    I think you would be the envy of every Mom here. I have never let J push his own cart (mean, mean Mommy) but as is the rule with him, you do it once and it is the rule forever. I have let him ride in those big hard to push car shaped carts though. And BB looks so grown up for her age pushing her ‘wee’ cart along and contemplating all the goodies. It sure looks like so much more fun than my shopping experiences.

  • Momma Bum

    February 21, 2008 at 1:23 pm

    I wish we had those little carts around here. Maybe I wouldn’t have to chase Lil’ Bum so much if she was anchored to a cart.

    We went for a few things last night. One of which included a b-day card for my SIL. It sang the song “shake your groove thing”. Lil’ Bum walked around the store dancing playing that card.

  • Christina

    February 22, 2008 at 8:58 am

    wait.. i just remembered they closed a bunch of Albertsons..
    okay.. it could be Vons or Ralphs ( my first guess was actually Lucky’s but I think those were all bought out by Safeway.. which there aren’t any of in Southern Cal)

  • carrien

    February 23, 2008 at 5:00 pm

    may I just say as the mom of three babies, two of whom were “underweight” but other wise perfectly healthy. Do not worry about it. Or the milk thing either. She’ll be fine. And if you’re really worried that she won’t drink milk give her soy milk or almond milk for calcium.

    Really, don’t worry about it. She’ll always be skinny probably, but she’s not under nourished.