After I think the *worst ever* grocery shopping trip on Sat pm with both kids in tow (ATM I have to do the big shop with DH because I don't have the wherewithal to carry everything) I was completely wiped out for the rest of the day and needed to take a nap just to function!
So I said "never again" ( foolhardy, I know) and the plan is now we'll whip around every 2nd Fri pm after DH gets off work early but before we pick the kids up.
In theory I hope this is a lifestyle improvement - our shop has a cafe etc & a generally pleasant 'market' type range of offerings so WHO KNOWS we might even enjoy our Fri arvos together.
So - how & when do you do your grocery shopping - to make it as pleasant/least unpleasant as possible?
Over the past few months we've tried to meal plan for a whole week and then do one shop accordingly, but we've failed dismally at that. The result it me usually ducking out to the shops a couple of times a week to grab things here & there. Not really the optimum way to go in terms of spending, but its working for us at the moment.
And so far I've managed to go to the shops with no baby in tow - I tend to wait until DP is home and I can whip around much quicker. In the early days I thought that getting the groceries done with a baby in tow was a marker of my success as a busy mother (in some weird kind of way that my silly mother's group used to talk about) but if I can avoid taking DS, I will!
This has reminded me to be more disciplined and plan better. That's my resolution for the day. Thanks MD!
We have no choice but to do ours every 2nd saturday morning with both kids, DD2 is becoming a nightmare to take though constant tantrums and trying to climb out of the trolley its horrible. I might convince DH to stay home on saturday and just do it myself ... that would be nice! Oh how sad is it idolising doing grocery shopping alone haha
i think i'm quite lucky at the moment because DS is still quite young. i do a weekly supermarket shopping & DS & i go on a tuesday morning. so far he's been quite good - he's only been sitting up in the trolley (instead of the baby thing) for the last couple of weeks so i think it's still a novelty. i do spend most of my shopping trips in a mild panic that he'll have some sort of meltdown before i get through the checkout
ideally, i'd like to do the meat, fruit & vegie shopping elsewhere (like a market or specialty shop) but at the moment i'm being pragmatic & sticking to what i know i can accomplish - trying to get to the supermarket plus a couple of other shops just never seems to happen
On Mondays when DS is at preschool, so I only have DD with me. School holidays are a bit of a disaster and I tend to do more small trips to the shops with both kids. I can't fit a big shop in the trolley when they're both sitting in it LOL. Also, I try to do it really early in the morning in the holidays before any cranky tiredness has set in.
My two aren't too bad whilst shopping (for now.. LOL) but they are NOISY. Not naughty noisy, just noisy! They call and sing out, Kayla yells out hello to everyone as we pass. It's kinda cute, and I don't think anyone is too annoyed.. they smile nicely at us LOL. I haven't felt any vibes from anyone haha. But I have to be quick, can't stuff around too long or they do lose their patience.
Oh - I'll also add.. if DH is with us, the kids muck up and tantrum BIG time. Not sure why?? Poor DH is getting a complex I think. For some reason they just don't behave out shopping when it's all of us together.
i try and do mine by myself on a thursday or friday evening (fortnightly)! its my timeout!! thats for groceriers, for fruit and veg its around every 10 days and either hubby does it on a weekend with DD1 or i go during the week. meat is about every 6 weeks and is easy to do with both girls
DP, DS and I do our groceries on a Sunday, for some reason we have always done this and its nice to spend the time together as a family. We take our time, have a joke and its actually enjoyable (I never thought I would say that about the supermarket).
We have recently started meal planning and that means we now only have to do a huge shop once a fortnight (we were going weekly and wasting so much food) and then DP get things like milk and bread when we run out. So far its working.. but it does mean being prepared before we go.
When the kids were little I would always shop on a tuesday - don't know how it always happened to be that day LOL but it just seemed to be the day I was going into town the most. Then once they started preschool shopping day was always the day they were going to preschool so I saved myself an extra trip into town (we are 42kms out of town, so that's why I say 'go to town' LOL) and it filled in my day. This year I have no kids at preschool so I am back to Tuesday again because it just seems to suit me best. We only do one weekly shop and I get enough to last us till the next shopping day because not only does it mean i don't have to make a trip to town for one thing, it also saves us money and helps us budget better.
I have always taken the kids with me - sometimes all 4 of them if I am doing it after school or during holidays because DH works long hours so isn't able to come with me but sometimes if he is home and not busy I will leave the kids with him - not because they are a pain to take, in fact they are really well behaved and I am very lucky in that respect - but just because its nice to go on your own sometimes.
I shop once a week (usually a Wed or Thurs am), I have a list that I stick to and I go first thing in the morning. I'm about to jump in the shower and go now so I get there just before 9am.
I've always shopped with ds (he's now 4yrs) and only remember one terrible shopping trip where he had the tantrum from hell! He would NOT sit in the trolly seat and was screaming loud enough that I had 2 separate ladies come up and ask if I needed help Being the stubborn person I am, I stood my ground, waited out the screaming and made him sit in the trolly. Hes never done it again.
I also use bribery for food shopping, the way I figure it, food shopping sucks. I hate it, I can't see why ds would like it any better. If he's good through the shopping, stays near the trolly, doesn't keep asking for treats and no whinging we go look in the pet shop after and share a milkshake. If it's a bad day (like last week) there's no pet shop and no milkshake.
When ds was little, I'd have some form of food in my bag and a toy that he didn't play with often that I used to distract him.
I do it Sunday afternoons - I wait until around 4pm as thats when the rest of the shops shut, & so only the things like coles, woolworths, bakers delight, butchers & fruit & veg are open.
Saves me having to shop with the rest of the world when they're all still out & about
Luke goes to work with DH for a couple of hours while I do it - he earns some pocket money helping DH do some prep for work.... and I get to do groceries on my own - and without it costing double by having DH & DS tag along
A lot of the fruit & veg & meat I order when we do our orders for the shop - so I'm lucky, it just gets delivered with the work stock & DH brings it home for me.
The only shopping I really do is the household stuff from woolworths/coles & the bread from the bakery, so it usually doesn't take me very long at all.
I pick DS up on the way home & he gets to unload it all from the car while I put it away!
(This little job is included in the jobs he gets his pocket money for for helping DH on Sundays)
My sister and I go every 2nd Wednesday night by ourselves. NO KIDS! We stop off and have tea on the way then stroll around Kmart (it's 24 hr) looking at anything and everything we feel like. Then we go to the supermarket and take out time. There's no 'mum I want this or that', it's great! Then we load up the car and go home. It's a late night for me though because we live so far away from the shops but I enjoy it.
I shop once a fortnight for groceries and meat, usually on a tuesday afternoon by myself. Now that DD is a Kindy I will go during the day on a tuesday once a fortnight with DS. Fruit and veggies we tend to buy at the local farmers market on a Sunday morning, we usually go about 7 am before it gets too busy, we all go and do this as the kids like to help 'help' but it gets a little difficult if we leave it too late, as it is very busy.
I would not be able to manage without having the groceries delivered. DH works crazy hours so grocery shopping is a solo activity in our house. I would not be able to manage a large weekly shop with my boy and the pram in tow! Let alone carrying everything and everyone up the 15 stairs just to get to our front door! So I place an order on a Tuesday and get delivery on a Thursday morning. The quality of the fruit and veg is far superior to that in our local outlets (which is probably why we pay a premium for the privilege!) so we have absolutely no wastage and the fresh food lasts so much longer.
That is not to say that I don't pick up some odds and ends when I am out with my boy - but it saves me having to carry anything that can't fit in the pram which, in turn, saves me from a great deal of impulse buying! I also make a a special trip to buy his organic food, but that again, is just a pram-load full at a time.
It's not great! DS HATES sitting in the trolley, but gets a ride on Thomas after if he's been good.
We have to go together on a Saturday as we only get around by taxi and a 6 month pregnant lady and a 2 year old toddler and a boot load of shopping carrying bags one by one from the Taxi to the front door just don't mix! Man I wish I had a car!
You gotta do what you gotta do though....we just persist. I would do it regardless of whether DS was screaming to get out of the trolley or not!
I do it weekly and attempt to stay around the $100 (not inc bread and milk) ALONE!!! It is not the kids I don't like taking it is DH.......I like my ME time, even if it is only for an hour!
Like Trill, my nearest Coles is 38km although we do have a tiny supermarket in town that I buy milk and bread etc.
I go once a week with DS (he's almost 2), either after swimming lessons or before FDC. I'm lucky the butcher and baker (but no candlestick maker) are close to Coles as well. It was so busy the other day that DS made it through 2 vegemite sticks, a small packet of sultanas and a piece of polony, it was a full trolley though.
I have to freeze all my meat so I do a basic menu plan in my head, arranging meals around netball and football training.
Does anyone elses butcher still give out polony to kids? This used to happen when I was little so was pleasantly surprised when DS was offered. Actually, this is the only time he ever gets polony so he needs to make the most of it!
If DS is good, we have a "date" afterwards at a cafe/nursery/gift shop, I have a coffee and he has a milkshake.
i do mine on wednesdays now. used to be sat morning with the whole family. but nope im over that i want my weekends for weekend stuff lol.
i take DD2 with my as the others are at school or work.
todays wasd over A$300 but that was a once every month pantry stock shop..
we buy meat bulk every 3-4 months and then its bread and milk, but i am trying to bake my own bread.
first loaf seems to be a success so thats great
When & how do you do your grocery shopping?
foolhardy, I know) and the plan is now we'll whip around every 2nd Fri pm after DH gets off work early but before we pick the kids up. 
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