A Trip to the Grocery Store...Part 1

Every week, usually Monday, we head to the grocery store to get groceries for the week.  I bring both Jack and Casey along with me.  Apparently there are a lot of other moms who would never take two children to the grocery store much less one.  I have just always done this and they have gotten used to it.  They are usually pretty good.  

There was a time when Jack was about 15 months old and he made a few trips rather torturous for me.  He would not sit in the cart and would start getting really fussy if we had to wait more than 10 seconds at the checkout line.  Then...we started using the "car cart."  If you haven't seen one, it's basically a piece of plastic in the shape of a car or airplane, hooked on to the regular shopping cart, like this...    

Manuevering the cart is sometimes a little dicey.  I've used some before that kind of skid across the floor and don't offer much in the way of control.  They're also a little wider than a regular cart.  One time I may have moved a whole candy rack trying to get my cart to fit through the checkout aisle.  

There are also several different versions of the "car cart."  Some are airplanes, some are just seats, sometimes they sit in front of the basket and sometimes behind.  

Adding Casey to the grocery shopping mix has made things a little difficult.  While she was still in the car carrier, I could plunk her in the top and Jack could drive down below.  Then I carried her in the Bjorn for a while which made grocery shopping a bit of a workout.  But now that she is bigger, it's a new story.  Really, it's Jack who has the demands on the cart.  He just wants a steering wheel, but there have to be 2 steering wheels or he will complain that Casey is trying to use his.    

And so I have quested to find the perfect grocery store to take my kids to...something nearby, with the appropriate car cart, inexpensive and a short wait for checkout.  There is no such thing.  No grocery store has all of the above.  

Mostly, I go to the commissary in Norfolk.  It has everything but the right distance.  

I started this post fully intending to write about my trip there today, which was somehow completely frustrating and amusing at the same time.  But...Jack is still crying from his bedroom at 9pm, Jon & Kate are about to begin and I spent way too much time providing background (ie typing about shopping carts).  And so, this will be my first post with the words TO BE CONTINUED...

And hopefully I can remember what was so frustrating and funny about this trip tomorrow after all the frustrating and funny things that I'm sure will happen between now and then.