I did the usual Monday morning run to the mega-grocery store today - bread, milk, pizza, pickles, all lemming staples - and noticed, yet again, just how many of the shoppers alongside me were Dads with toddlers. Said Dads obviously had not woken up, realized that today they had to bring snacks to pre-school and panicked, but had shopping lists and obviously planned to get everything their family needed for the week.
I'm all in favor of stay-at-home dads, but we all know that the economy has generated quite a few dads who now stay at home without ever having planned on doing so.
What really struck me this morning was how many of the dads were laughing and joking with their toddlers. None of the kids had a screaming fit when told they couldn't have fruit snacks, all wore clean clothes and most of the girls had ponytails, braids or other hair accessories. Some of the older children tried to make out letters on the grocery lists.
OK, I confess - I spent much more time people watching than finding pickles; it just struck me as a wonderful bit of humanity at a hard time in our history.
2 comments:
I am usually the grocery shopper but when my husband has to go (with the kids), he send them on "missions" to find items on the list. Mainly because he has difficulty maneuvering through the store that does not change from week to week. But the kids know where everything is and make the trip much quicker. And they have fun. Usually, it's me and Juliette and she's like shopping with a cat - always being in the absolute wrong place at all times so that I trip over her or hit her with the cart when I'm trying to avoid her.
We split the duty; it depends on what's needed and who's actually driven in to work. If we need perishables (frozen/refrigerated), I can't pick them up on the way home. My commute lasts too long. But I can and do get things like cat litter and cat food, oatmeal etc--anything that won't melt or spoil.
I disliked shopping with my children except when we didn't have air conditioning at home. Then I'd pile them in their Red Ryder wagon and walk the half mile to the store just to be in blessed cool, dry air for a bit. Of course then we had the walk home . . . but it was still worth it.
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