How to Survive Shopping with Kids

Page 6 Nurturing Times How to Survive Grocery Shopping with Kids in Tow

by Elena Neitlich www.articlecity.com/articles/parenting/ easy to prepare meal ideas like beef stroganoff bath and beauty products running low. A pad article_1660.shtml and tacos. Writing a weekly menu will relieve of paper and pen in an accessible area lets “Before kids I used to happily peruse the stress that families feel each evening when family members jot down items they need. the supermarket aisles, slowly selecting interesting new items, scrutinizing labels and creating a few evening meals in my head as I shopped. Now I have two small kids and my creative shopping days are over. I run through the store and I am lucky if I get half of the essentials that I need to get through the week,” writes a frustrated mom when asked about her biggest daily stressors. With small children in tow, visits to the supermarket can be unproductive and fi lled with anxiety. An extra twenty minutes of indecision, waiting at the deli, or deciding what’s for dinner, leaving more time and energy for family time. Study grocery store fl oor plan It is really helpful to know the layout of the grocery store when creating a grocery list because the list can be made to correlate to the store. For example, if the deli is the fi rst place passed and the dairy is next and then meat, deli items should be grouped at the top of the list followed by all of the dairy items and then meat. Although seemingly obsessivecompulsive, correlating the list to the store layout eliminates doubling back and can save enormous amounts of time. traveling unneeded aisles, is just enough Clip coupons. time for kids to lose their marbles After the list is created, fi nd coupons and cause the parent to fl ee the store, that match items on the list. Only use shopping incomplete. coupons for those items regularly Supermarket shopping must get done, and bringing the children, for the majority of parents, is the only viable option. Shopping with your kids doesn’t have to be a struggle if you know a some survival tips. used, or those items the family might enjoy trying. Put the coupons needed for the current shopping list into the SURVIVAL TIPS Make a list. Using the weekly menu, make a envelope with the grocery list printed on it. Place a check next to those items on the list Create a weekly menu. shopping list on the front of a plain that have a coupon. Don’t add extra items to On Sunday, fi nd 7 simple dinner envelope (reason for envelope in next tip) of the list just to use a coupon. Compare prices, recipes made with basic, healthy ingredients. all of the items needed to prepare the week’s sometimes another brand might be cheaper Include an easy lunch menu for 7 days and then breakfast, lunch and dinner meals. The food than the brand with the coupon. decide breakfast choices for the week. The list complete, go through the house and add Do be creative with the weekly menu Food Network website yields hundreds of tasty, to the list, beverages, paper, cleaning, and to incorporate coupons, for example make , ,

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