General Store

I had to do some baking this morning and it's freezing outside so it's an "indoor day." I didn't want the kids to watch TV all day and I sure didn't want them to be bored, because, as we all know, boredom leads to fighting with each other and asking Mom 400 questions per hour. So I tried to think of something that they could do together that would take a while. The Princess cash register in the middle of the floor gave me the idea: Pretend grocery shopping! Oh how I loved to play grocery store when I was a kid. I LOVED to unload my mom's groceries while tapping away on an adding machine of some sort. My one unrealized dream is to be a grocery store checker. I know, I know, I could probably be one really easily right now, but the automatic scanner ruined it for me. I need to be able to punch in numbers really fast to enjoy myself.

Wait. Where was I? Oh right...grocery store for the kids. So, I set up the "store" in the kitchen, got them some grocery sacks and told them to get after it.

Honestly, they weren't that excited when I mentioned it, but they got pretty pumped when they saw it all set up and realized I was letting them use real groceries.

First things first, of course: Reese had to make a list.....

Note: The "Health and Beauty" section is kept separate from the food section. Even a pretend store has to be somewhat organized if you want to streamline your shopping experience.

Rhett did some shopping at first, but gave up after Reese made him be her baby and then became impatient with him. That could not have been part of the game. How in the world would she ever get the idea that a mom gets impatient with her precious child at the grocery store?

Clearly, Reese had business to take care of, so as soon as Rhett balked at being her verbally abused baby, she forgot all about him and got busy shopping.

I think my favorite thing is that she actually read the list she made.

She looked at it every time she picked up an item. I had to get a close up of the list, without her knowing, just so you could see why I find it hilarious that she referred to this list a gazillion times this morning.

If you ever need to get something done, or if you are just in the mood to laugh at your kids, set up a store. It's worth what little time and effort it takes to set up and clean up!