So I know that this doesn’t rank very high amongst the world’s problems in general . . . but I'd briefly like to vent about a reoccurring problem that has been driving me crazy this cold and snowy Chicago winter.
How is a grocery-shopping Mom supposed to extract her snow-boot-wearing toddler from a shopping cart without (a) breaking both of his ankles with all of the contortion required to get him out or (b) having both boots fall off, creating the need to stop and put the little guy’s footwear back on before proceeding to car with groceries?
Grocery shopping with a kid (or two) in tow is hard enough. Frankly, it is exhausting for both of us. When my little guy isn't grabbing for items on the shelves, he is begging and whining for prohibited items ("Treat! Treat!") while attempting to open and eat whatever he can reach in the cart. Meanwhile, I am working overtime to thwart all of his efforts while also trying to buy food for dinner.
Getting him in and out of the shopping cart in the winter just doesn't seem like it needs to be another grocery shopping challenge. Here is how I see it: There are times when you just have to bring your kids to grocery store with you - it is a fact of life as a Mommy. I have to put the little guy in snow boots to trek through the snow and mush to the car (it is February in Chicago, for God's sake). I have to use the cart at the grocery store or he would terrorize the place. And every single time I pull him out of the cart, the boots come off, or he screams like crazy because I am hurting his ankles in my efforts to extract him.
Is this a cart design issue? Am I the only idiot who has this problem? Does my kid have freakishly large snow boots? Grocery stores, are you listening? Can you help a Mom out and look into a cart that works better for Moms and kids? Or do you smart Moms out there have a solution to this dilemma?
Caitlin rants and raves about other inconsequential things at the Chicago Moms Blog, where this is cross-posted.
Is this a cart design issue? Am I the only idiot who has this problem? Does my kid have freakishly large snow boots? Grocery stores, are you listening? Can you help a Mom out and look into a cart that works better for Moms and kids? Or do you smart Moms out there have a solution to this dilemma?
Caitlin rants and raves about other inconsequential things at the Chicago Moms Blog, where this is cross-posted.
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2 comments:
My shopping cart beef is when the plastic seat automatically flips up when not in use - clearly designed by someone who does not have children. Maybe I am just uncoordinated, but I have a very difficult time trying to hold the seat down with one hand while trying to navigate a wiggling 9-month-old's legs into the leg holes with my other arm. Highly annoying. I haven't run into the snow boots problem yet, but that is a treat I can look forward to next year.
That thing on the cart is SO annoying - it deserves its own blogpost! And why does that piece have to flip up anyway? I am not even sure what purpose it serves.
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