s/o how do you handle grocery shopping

[Anonymous]

I try to park near a cart carrel. I unload the cart into my trunk with my daughter in the seat (and one foot on the wheel to keep it from rolling), then walk the cart over to the carrel with her still in the seat. I take her out of the seat, put the cart in the carrel and walk back to the car. Takes no time at all. (though to be fair, 90% of the time I don't take her with me to the grocery store at all, as she always wants to ride in those car carts that are really hard to maneuver and I get cranky.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:See...these are the kinds of things I never even considered when my kids were little. I had the same thought when I read the thread about getting a newspaper.

I always put the kids in the car, loaded the groceries, then returned the cart. It never even crossed my mind that there were people insane enough to believe that leaving a child in a locked car for 30 seconds while I returned a cart, grabbed a newspaper, returned a video or library book, or ran back into the house for something was somehow dangerous.

I simply cannot fathom how some of you live day-to-day. The world must be a terrifying place for you.

If you read it the OP was wondering what the best way to handle it if the cart return was far from where the car was. Would you leave the kids unattended in a locked or unlocked car with or without AC if you had to trek across a parking lot to return the cart? Or would you figure out a way to take the kids with you?

I don't think anyone has said that walking 5 car widths away from the car or leaving it for 30 seconds was a horrible terrible dangerous thing to do.

Did you read the other thread? People are pretty much saying that very thing. Because, you know, what if you get run over in the parking lot while you're walking back to the car? Or have a heart attack? Or there's a baby snatcher lying in wait for this very opportunity??

I laughed to myself about this in the other thread. I mean what if you had a seizure or heart attack while driving or were carjacked at a stop light? What would happen to the baby then? Those things are probably more likely than some of the ridiculous scenarios that the alarmists in the newspaper thread were coming up with. I guess we should all just never leave home.

[Anonymous]

cuzimawesome wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Am i the only one: if i'm alone w/my kid...I load her, load the groceries, and GASP...leave the cart in my space or next to it? I know I know. Life is too short, and I have enough to worry about.

Is it really that difficult to put the cart away? You're alone with one kid - it's not difficult. You're blocking a parking space that someone else could use plus risking damage to someone else's car.

Haha! That really bugs you, huh? If you want the space so bad, then get out of your fucking car and move the cart.

Agreed. You are pretty much guaranteed a spot at Whole Foods if you are willing to move a cart.

[Anonymous]

I like the idea of parking near a cart corral but 90% of the time that I am shopping without my spouse it is in a lot where that's not an option. I live close in so our giant doesn't have a corral in the lot, but it's also a short walk to the store front. And at my whole foods ive never seen anyone helping people to their cars. I have an SUV so I like to load DC in first (turning on a/c in summer) and then I can see and talk to him the whole time I was loading groceries. Then it's a quick dash to put the cart away. If I didn't have the open suv I'd probably think the whole thing was too long and would keep him in the cart.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

cuzimawesome wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Am i the only one: if i'm alone w/my kid...I load her, load the groceries, and GASP...leave the cart in my space or next to it? I know I know. Life is too short, and I have enough to worry about.

Is it really that difficult to put the cart away? You're alone with one kid - it's not difficult. You're blocking a parking space that someone else could use plus risking damage to someone else's car.

Haha! That really bugs you, huh? If you want the space so bad, then get out of your fucking car and move the cart.

Agreed. You are pretty much guaranteed a spot at Whole Foods if you are willing to move a cart.

I've done that - started to pull into a space only to have a cart sitting there. Unable to back up or pull through an adjacent space, I had to stop halfway with cars behind me and pedestrians around me and with 3 kids in the car to jump out and move it.

Let's hope a cart left behind by someone as equally lazy as you three hits your car one day. Karma is a bitch. It's really not that hard to put a cart away, or if at a place like Whole Foods to ask for someone to help you put the groceries in the car and take the cart back for you. If I can manage to put the cart away, so you can you.

[Anonymous]

I put my kid in the car first! My cousin was terribly injured 20 years ago when the cart he was in rolled away when his mom turned around to put a bag in the trunk. The cart ran right in front of a car that was going too fast. I also don't return the cart if the store has cart returns too far away.

[Anonymous]

I leave my child at home with my husband so I can shop without her if I shop on a weekend. Or, I shop during the work day while she is at school.

[Anonymous]

Grocery store: keep kid in cart, one foot on cart to keep it from rolling anywhere.

Grocery store if it is raining: leave cart at pickup lane, take kid to car, buckle up, go to pick up lane, leave car running (in park with parking brake on) while I load grocery bags. Honestly, this is probably the safest plan for any weather, so long as your store has a loading lane.

Target: park next to or across from cart corral (pretty easy to do at 8 AM on a Saturday), put kiddo in car, load bags, return cart. If it is hot out, I'll turn on the car and the AC before loading the bags.

I've never seen a cart tip over and I've never had a cart run away from me because I always keep a hand or foot on it, even without a kid in the cart.

Once DD was old enough that she wasn't riding in the cart (2or 3, she is a tall kid and outgrew the cart pretty young) and it was too hot to sit in the car, I'd have her keep one hand on the car while I loaded up the groceries. That way she couldn't get too far or be in traffic. Same rule for when she got out of the car: had to keep one hand on the car until she was holding hands with an adult.

OP, don't feel bad about wondering about this. There are plenty of daily activities that are suddenly more complicated when you introduce a baby. And with all the warnings and fear mongering in the media, it can seem overwhelming at times. I think asking people here how the prefer to handle it is very reasonable. Just take it all with a large grain of salt. And watch what other families are doing at the store and see if it would work for you.