tuesday tip - shopping with kids (3 of 4)

shopping with more than one

if you have more than one child (or even if you just have one), you most likely try to shop without them when possible. especially for those 'quick' in-and-out errands. but when you have several in tow, you just have to make due. my 'tip'? be realistic.

you know your kids, you know their strengths and weaknesses, their biggest temptations, their temperaments. know the pace they can handle, the number of stops you can make and accept when they are done. i have to psych myself up somedays. it is going to take longer, i am going to be exhausted by the end, but i try to make it enjoyable for all of us - especially on days when i have all four - because it has to get done and it might as well be fun. in the grocery store we spend the most time in the produce section. we talk colors, smells, where it grows, etc. but you could do something similar in any store. i also try not to go past the fruit snacks or cookies on days they are in a begging or whine-y moods. you loose one, you loose them all. 'jobs' (real or invented) are essential to keeping everyone on task and with me. when they are all focused on a 'job' there is a lot less whining. and praise, praise, praise good behavior!! it is so much more effective than having to correct 'bad' behavior constantly. and it is a great way to use the peer pressure of siblings - they try to outdo each other's good behaviors to earn their own praise.

my 'tip' in this series keep multiplying. sorry. one more week and then we are done.

do you have a strategy you use every time you shop with more than one?

love.