What Normal Moms Do

I did something I have never done today.
I did something that normal moms do all the time.
Can you guess what I did?

I took three of my children grocery shopping with me.

gasp!


My name is Megan. And I admit that I almost always run errands alone. I kind of fell into this routine early in motherhood when it just seemed ridiculous to bundle up three infants in three infant car seats and go to the grocery store only to realize that I would need two carts to fit them in. So I never did.

As the kids grew older, and I realized that taking care of them day in and day out was mentally and physically exhausting, grocery shopping and running errands became sacred. Almost as sacred as church on Sundays...no not really.

My routine has always been to run errands on Friday afternoons. Matt is home early on Fridays, so when I would see his face at the door, I would run as quickly as I could for my mini van and head to Target and the other stores that I don't like as much as Target. I would spend my three hours, hot beverage in hand, meandering stores for what we needed and sometimes what we didn't. I loved shopping alone.

But now things are different. I now have these few hours when the kids are at preschool and I realize that it may be a tad unpractical to spend these hours getting weekly pedicures or taking naps in the parking lot. So I have adjusted my routine and am running errands while the kids are at school. It is working well and I actually like being home on Friday afternoons when my husband gets home. Perhaps we can plan a weekly conversation on Friday now:)

Today, however, I had to be somewhere during preschool, so I couldn't do the grocery shopping. I instead came up with a crazy idea to pick the kids up and have them come with me. And honestly, I was really excited about it! My kids can be challenging, demanding, and sometimes even unbearable...but the truth is, they are SO much fun too!

I met them at preschool and told them that I had a surprise. When they got to the van I opened the door and showed them that I had gone to Wendy's and bought us lunch. We were going to have a picnic in the van and then go grocery shopping. Picnic in the van can be translated as I bought lunch ahead of time so that I didn't have to take you out of the van, into a restaurant, into the bathrooms, eat, clean up, and back into the van. One of our 2nd row seats is removed from our van, so the 4 of us had just enough room to sit in a circle and enjoy our lunch. How fun!

Afterward we headed to the grocery store in search of one of those carts with the red cars attached. By the grace of God one was right in the cart corral next to where I parked. Eli and Cara jumped in the car, while Brady chose to ride in the cart right in front of his momma:)

20 aisles and 1 bathroom break later, the shopping was done! The kids were awesome, they made me laugh, and I really enjoyed myself. The highlight for everyone was passing by the 5 foot tall animated Witch on display for Halloween. They wanted to see her over and over again, but really they were scared. Cara even asked a woman who was standing next to us, "Hey lady, did you see that witch down there?"

I think I have decided to take the kids grocery shopping with me two times a month. That is a nice balance. My husband will be glad to know that shopping with the children is good for our budget. Those carts with the cars attached have much smaller spaces for food and I can't by too much because as it was today the grocery bags left only a small space for the kids to squeeze through to get to their seats!

Two Tuesdays of the month I will take them with me, and two Tuesdays I will shop alone. Being normal wasn't so bad after all.

ps. Isn't the new blog banner awesome! I think the new picture really brightens it up and also is destined to be a family classic!