Find the Fun in Grocery Shopping

I like to eat :) , which means I cook, and therefore ... I must grocery shop. I don’t hate the grocery store (especially when they give samples!), the relaxing music at my favorite store always slows me down — and I look at people around me. Lately, I have seen more and more mommies, with little ones, who do this:

Walk in — child on hip or by the hand, pull out cart, plunk child in cart, reach into purse or diaper bag for phone or ipad or any device with a screen, push “ON,” give to child, start shopping. No talking.

Have you seen this? Do you DO this?  Believe me, I get it! We are BUSY -  stuff to do, meals to cook, laundry, gotta get through this list, collect coupons,get home asap, go, go , GO!

WAIT! - Don’t miss an opportunity -  A creative way to talk to your children about the Lord!!  Deuteronomy 6:7 says, “Talk about Him when you sit at home, when you walk along the road, get up in the morning, when you lie down at night, and when you are at the grocery store! (I added to the scripture just a bit).  And, consider  Romans 1:20, “Since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities ... have been clearly seen in what has been made....”

So what does this have to do with grocery shopping? Try this:

• Look at what has been made!  As you walk through the produce - notice shapes, and colors. Tell your children, “God made this.” 
• Have them touch and smell and see....Thank God for your eyes and nose and fingers. Feel a potato. Touch an onion. 
• Smell some fennel (I love fennel!). Play the “I SPY” game. What is orange? What is yellow? Have them close their eyes and smell mint, basil, or cilantro. 
• Thank God for your tongue -—we can taste all the good food God made. Go to the Dairy and ask, “Where do we get milk, and eggs? Thank God for cows and hens, and farmers!  Make animal noises. Go ahead, embarrass yourself! Your kids will love you! (I should know. I dress in a costume and embarrass my kids all the time!)

A great adventure in parenting is looking for and finding God is everywhere! One of Miss PattyCake’s songs says this:  “Everywhere you look you see —in colors, numbers, ABCs — Everywhere you look you see, God loves you and God loves me!”

Now, were all my trips to the grocery a “glorious parenting experience”? Ha! No. I always hope for successful teaching moments, even the time my son knocked over a display and sent jars of spaghetti sauce crashing! What a mess. But I put on a brave face and said, "WOW! Red is everywhere! Clean-up on aisle 3..."

Photo cc by USACE Europe District on Flickr.