Beautiful Crazy Faith: Operation Groceries

I know many of you will be able to relate to me when I say that I HATE grocery shopping. Yes 'hate' is a very strong word but I use it because I actually HATE grocery shopping. If I could avoid it then I would. Which is why I was more than willing to hand over that task to my husband the moment he started studying because he had the time and actually liked the task. Once upon a time, pre-children I used to enjoy it. When I had the luxury of time to meander down the aisle, carefully selecting the best looking fruit and vegetable, reading the backs of packets and ferreting out products that I thought would be nice to try. Back then we had the time and the money to do so.

Not so much now. Fifteen years, seven children and half the income later trips to the grocery shop has the precision of a well executed military maneuver. Operation Groceries!! Hence why I hate it. Like I said earlier its something I willingly let my husband do, but for the last couple of weeks he has been unable to go for us for one reason or another so its been up to me.

The thing with home-schooling is that well the kids are always with me, (I do like that) but at the supermarket well it has the potential to become a disaster story, very fast, with no warning. However the kids are ALWAYS excited to go shopping. Not only do I have at least have the majority of the kids with me but our shopping lists are organised detailed lists with opt-off options. Opt-off options are things that we can do without if it looks as though the trolley is getting a little too on the expensive side.

Like many of you I have horror stories of shopping with young kids. Like the time two of my kids bit chunks out of a number of deli cheeses!. Or the time one threw a tantrum and lay on the floor in the middle of the aisle or the time my milk bottle leaked all through the shop and I left a trail leading right to the the checkout or the time I left Jesse in the pram in the meat department while I carried on shopping with the trolley through a couple of aisle before I realised I was missing the baby or the time my card declined at the check out or the time with I inadvertently bought a number of pottles of liquid chicken stock and mickey mouse plasters after my kids had a competition with each other to see if they could sneak things into the trolley without me noticing. What was I to do with multiple pottles of chicken stock? And why chicken stock? They could of made it decent like bars of chocolate! But lately do I dare say that shopping has been almost almost pleasant????? I know! I don't know if I should be saying that out loud.

However almost pleasant shopping was last week, it was not without a horror story of its own. One that left me racing through the rest of my shopping at an almost illegal pace just to get away from a fellow shopper. Jesse had decided to be particularly cute and be super excited and point out all the different things he could see. He is nearly three you see and that's what three years do! Look mama a tractor! Look mama a red car! You know what I mean. After turning into the cereal aisle we passed by a lady that was um of larger proportions than your normal everyday lady and she was wearing a very short skirt. Jesse proceeded to bring to my attention "Look Mama - giants legs!" *gasp in horror* Needless to say I hurried out of the aisle and through the rest of the shopping. I didn't wait to see if she had heard or not, I was too embarrassed. Perhaps I should of apologised. What could I say though....he is only nearly three! *sigh! See even the seemingly pleasant shop can be a little traumatic.

Fortunately that was the only incident and I didn't have to use the opt-off options this time. So it was lollipops all round! Yes. Yes I bribe them with lollipops! (last week it was donuts). And I bribed myself with a sneaky chocolate bar (last week it was a chocolate french pastry- shhhhhh) I actually did sneak it on to the conveyor belt when they weren't look and ate it while was packing the groceries into the car. You have to do these things when you have young kids that sniff out any amount of seemingly unfairness and chocolate!

Pretty safe to say that Operation Groceries was a mission accomplished with only minimal casualties of war!

But I did have the greatest checkout helpers around. I didn't have to lift a finger!

Do you enjoy or hate grocery shopping? Do you have to watch your weekly spend and have opt-off options?Do you have horror stories of shopping with kiddies? Have you ever left a child somewhere? Care to share?

Weekly photo drop.