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Quick tips for parents of young children
Plan ahead to avoid the 'gimmies' in grocery aisles
By MARK SULLIVAN, Executive Director, Michigan 4C Association

Q: It is so embarrassing. You take your three-year old grocery shopping and she just wants to get out of the cart and pull items off the shelves. She’s even thrown a temper tantrum right there in the checkout line. What can you do?

A: Kids are people, too! Grocery store planners spend a lot of energy trying to get you to impulsively grab items from the shelves, so it’s not very surprising that your child gets their message, even if you don’t. In fact, think about the ways you avoid impulse buying, and apply those rules:

• Plan ahead - reduce the number of trips to the store, and leave her in the care of others for some of those trips.
• Shop from a list - it saves time and keeps trips within a child’s attention span.
• Shop when you and she are well-fed and rested. Tired and hungry is no way to grocery shop.

   

Once you are at the store, allow the child to participate:

• Stop for a moment and focus your attention completely on her as she helps pick out a box of cereal or something else safely. Children want to explore their environments and if you can, let them out of the cart as you watch. Remember, a two-minute pause in the aisles may seem long, but a tantrum at the checkout lane lasts an eternity.
• Make trips fun by playing "I Spy," or asking questions that require thinking, but don’t seem like a quiz. For example, "Help me find the things that are heavy, so we can put them in the bottom of the bag."
• If you are going to purchase an item for your child, carefully limit the choices before she makes a decision. Here’s the trap to avoid:
  Dad, looking for a break, says, "OK, you can pick one out yourself."

  Child lunges for the most expensive, gooeyist, sugar-laden or sharpest object in sight, saying, "I want THAT one."

  Dad, now grabbing the child’s forearm, "No, you can’t have THAT one."

  Child demonstrates mastery of valuable debate skills with comeback, "BUT YOU SAID I COULD CHOOSE!"

   

If you do find yourself in a situation like this, take a deep breath. You are still a good parent, you just happen to have an upset child. As long as the child poses no real danger to herself or anything else your best bet might be to acknowledge her feelings, "I’m sorry. I know you wanted that one, and I should have been more clear." When you get home, consider reading her a good book - such as The Berenstain Bears Get The Gimmies by Stan and Jan Berenstain.