Bring your child to the store - mission impossible? 30 November 2009
Five useful tips to avoid critical situations.
Probably every mother knows what it feels like to go shopping with her child. It becomes a real challenge, because the child starts being naughty, stubborn, crying and demanding that you bought him something. The easiest choice, of course, is not to take your child with you. But this is not a solution, you are just avoiding the problem. The child will still behave in the described way when you go somewhere else with him.
Here we offer some tips that will help you avoid critical situations:
1. Do the shopping at a big supermarket, only once a week if it is possible.
Before you go shopping, make a list with all the things you need to buy. Also, before you enter the store, explain to the child that if he is patient and good, there will be a present for him. The present can be something from the store or something that you will do for him later at home (play with him for example). Remember, buying your child a chocolate egg once means that you will have to buy it again and again. Children get used to it very quickly. Don't be surprised if when paying at the cash desk, in the bottom of the shopping cart you discover a little present. Of course, there is nothing wrong with this as long as you allow your child to eat chocolate from time to time and he has behaved himself and has not been naughty in the store.
2. Give the child "the responsible task" to do the shopping himself
Some supermarkets have carts for children, which can be used even by a 2-year-old child. Give the child your list, explain to him one more time what you need to buy and encourage him do the shopping. Of course, you should provide some assistance at the high shelves. For example, I make the list with my daughter, so that she can get used to the idea while she is a child. When we are out of cheese, I tell her: "Here, I put cheese on the list for shopping and when we go to the store, we will get some cheese". Before we go to the store, we check the fridge together one more to see what we need and we put it on the list, if it is not there. Large supermarkets are a little bit tricky, because there you may buy things you haven't planned or you don't need. Try to resist the temptation. It is pretty sure, though, that if you are with your kiddo, you will hardly have time to look around.
3. If your child likes something in the store and wants it desperately
You can do the following: Check carefully the toy (product) that your child is showing to you. If it is something useless, explain to your child the reasons why you don’t want to buy it. Offer him something better, which you already have at home. If you think that the toy (product) is worth it, tell your child that you will write a letter to Santa Claus together and you will tell him that you want the elves to make exactly that toy for you. Often mothers have given me a strange look, thinking “Why is this crazy woman talking about Santa Claus with her child during the summer?" That is why lately I have developed a more interesting approach: We (me and my daughter) write on a piece of paper what kind of present she wants and put the paper in a bottle. We keep the bottle and I tell her that when we go to the seaside, we will put the bottle into the water (which is a joke of course).
4. Corner shops
Children can see a lot of sweet temptations in some of the corner shops too. They are right in front the child. We will not discuss if such direct provocation is good or not. Even if you try not to buy your child lollipops, pretzel sticks, chips and all the other unhealthy foods, which most of all spoil the child’s appetite and regime, at the moment your child starts crying, you feel embarrassed and you have no choice but to buy what he wants. The easiest advice is to avoid such stores. Another way to distract your child is again to offer him to do the shopping. This time the things you need to buy are fewer, there is no list. Before you enter the store discuss once again the things you need to buy- bread and milk. It will help if the child has his own purse with some money in it. Tell your child to greet the shop-assistant with "Good afternoon", to order all you need and to pay with the money from his own purse. In the end, do not forget to tell your child that you are very proud of him because he managed to do such a responsible task.
5. Things you should avoid
Do not bring the child with you to the store, when he is hungry, sick, very excited, tired or sleepy. In such cases you'd better leave him to your spouse, a friend of yours or the child's grandmother and grandfather.
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