User post: Does letting my kids eat their way through the grocery store make me a bad mommy?
It's not my fault!
As a new mom, those La Leche League meetings validated my right to feed my babies whenever, wherever they demanded.
When they graduated to solids, those domes of cheese and bread cubes at Whole Foods really started it.
The Costco vendors of mini bagel dogs, potstickers and one-gulp fruit smoothies reinforced it.
Then a Trader Joe's came to my 'hood and took it to a whole new level, with the kid cups of cat-shaped cookies and apple cider poured right into their sippy cups at every visit, not to mention near-entree size samples of carne asada, smoked salmon and other yummies.
The Bad Mommy result?
My children cannot get through a grocery run without eating their way through the store.
And I let them. One whine and I am a goner. Anything to get through the hunting and gathering for the family with a minimum of meltdowns from my children.
I can feel my Southern belle grandma tsk-tsking me from heaven. She would think my popping open of the bags of Terra chips and tiny boxes of raisins so unrefined. She would shudder as I yanked a juicebox from the rest of its family of 12, stabbed the straw in the hole and placed it in eager little hands.
At our regular stores the cashiers know us well, and with smirks ring up the boxes and bags that have already been opened. They patiently weigh and ring up that single banana twice when I explain that one about that size was already devoured by the monkeys. The nice clerks will even offer to toss away the sticky peel. The not-so-nice checkers however will not even wait until we have left the an aisle to loudly sigh as they sweep up the invisible granola bar droppings we leave in our wake.
Recently I picked my youngest up from preschool at noon. Our cupboards were looking very Old Mother Hubbard, so we headed to the store. Since it was lunchtime, I did a mommy multi-task and let Eve open up an individual baby carrot pouch. As I was pondering the cantaloupes ("I wonder how many ccs this one is?"), a crusty old codger informed me that he could call the police on me.
My accused crime? STEALING. According to Mr. Nosy Pants, it is illegal to eat in a grocery store without first paying for the items. I rolled my eyes and told him he'd be much more cheerful spending some time with the melons and handed him my favorite D-cup globe.
But I will concede that grocery store eating is probably uncouth, unsanitary (thank goodness for Purell) and OK, OK, officially against the rules, but allowing the kids to eat in the store has cut the temper tantrums dramatically. It saves me money in that I am not tempted to buy them a little toy every visit - their hands are already busy noshing.
We hit the produce and healthy food aisles first, so their little bellies are too full to whine for the verboten candies in the check out line. The rule is they can only snack on the items that mama has on the list - no neon blue suckers, no double-stuffed sandwich cookies. Now the kids look forward to the grocery store, an errand that used to tantrums from the backseat. The three of us have a great time chatting about the foods, colors, uses for products and my oldest practices sounding out the words on the big labels...in between big bites.
I don't know why I seem to be the only parent doing this. The looks and head shakes from other moms, or even accusations of thievery as my kids scarf in the cart are the least of my worries, but really, what's the big deal?
At least I won't be the one slaving over a sit-down family lunch once we get home.
Jessica McFadden writes daily about activities for families at A Parent in Silver Spring. Watch for her upcoming post, Bad Mommy: Drinking Our Way Through the Liquor Store! She is a contributor to the Yahoo! Mother Board.
