Shopping

Shopping with Ben is not usually an ordeal. Usually I do the above - stick him in the basket of a shopping trolley, and trundle him around the supermarket. He looks after the groceries, and at the end he helps unload the trolley onto the conveyor belt.

Usually.

Today he didn't want to sit in the trolley. We only had a shallow trolley, and so by aisle 3 and countless times being told to sit down or we'd go and get a proper trolley, we went and got a proper trolley, with a child seat. And by the time we'd reached aisle 3 again, he'd strapped himself in! Cue stress-free grocery shop. Excellent.

Round One: Win.


Next it was off to Boots. They have really tiny trolleys in our Boots store, but at least they have a child seat.

By the time we'd reached the checkout (having had a minor panic when I couldn't find Ben's size in nappies in the brand I prefer (Nature Babycare, if you're interested, which we use for overnighters) only to discover they had been hidden sneakily behind a pack of the next size up) I discovered Ben had again strapped himself in.

Obviously something is sinking in, all the times we go through the "let's put your seatbelt on" rigmarole.

Round Two: Win.


Then, we had to call in at Halfords. Only one thing left on the shopping list, antifreeze/coolant.

Halfords, however, have moved stuff round in the store so that RIGHT AT THE ENTRANCE there is a whole AISLE full of big electronic toy cars, big enough for - yes, a 2 year old to sit in and play in and drive, pretty much. You have to go all the way through the store, and round and round, to find the coolant. (Of course, I suspect if I was a man, I'd know exactly where to find the stuff...) And then you have to go back past all the fantastic toy cars and scooters to get to the checkout. Ben was in tears.

Round Three: Lose.


I promised him that we'd play in the garden and do some digging when we got home and that cheered him up.

I am glad that my son is so easily pleased: digging in the garden over a £200 toy car.