Sunday, August 29, 2010
Ch-Ch-Ch-Choices...
Today I tried something new with our needed grocery store trip. Not sure why, but for some reason, trying to meander down aisles full of beckoning goodies while hoping to stick to a list and watch prices, all the while redirecting not so good behavior from three children... not so much fun! :)
Some days are better than others, but often I find myself resorting to... "If you'll walk with me and be a good listener, then..." we'll look at the toy aisle (look, not buy)... or we'll buy a candy bar to share on the way out... or we'll get a redbox for tonight... and I don't like feeling as if I'm constantly "bribing" them to do what should be a given - we listen, we look around while mom shops, we talk and be a family... you know... how all other families are at the grocery store! LOL I know, it's not like that, but I wish it was. And with a six year old with ADHD and a 4 year old with food issues... grocery shopping... definitely NOT a favorite past time! :)
I'm just hoping that he will at least truly like the cereal (it does have whole grain at least!) and will eat it as a school morning option once a week.
So... all that to say, here's what I tried today, and for today at least, it worked!
I made out my list of what we were low on, what was needed, etc. Among them were soup (not something Braeden likes at all) and cereal (again, not a Braeden fave, he's not much of a breakfast eater unless it's eggs, pancakes, etc and in the time before school on weekdays, mom isn't cooking a full out breakfast, sorry to burst your bubble of thinking I'm Mar*tha!) and then I thought maybe a half gallon of ice cream as a treat occasionally.
As I was looking at the list and thinking out the trip, I had an idea. Why not let the kids choose these, or at least some of these? I don't buy sugar cereal, but would one box every couple weeks really hurt? And maybe if they were the ones choosing the soup Braeden would actually eat it when it was HIS pick. Hmmm...
So I decided to do a choice time for those three items. I told the kids we were trying something new and that today we would start letting them choose some of our groceries. As long as they did a good job in the store, their choices stuck, otherwise I'd have to put them back. It was items already on my list, so I wasn't buying anything "extra", I hoped it would help some of the pickiness of eating, and thought it would give them some ownership in the shopping process.
Braeden today was the cereal picker. And, although I have not seen prizes inside cereal boxes in years (maybe they've been there and I just never looked at "those" kinds of cereals???), Braeden OF COURSE found the box with a TOY inside! It wasn't Trix, rather was Cooki*e Crisp, but has this toy...
I'm just hoping that he will at least truly like the cereal (it does have whole grain at least!) and will eat it as a school morning option once a week.Liam was our ice cream man and he picked this...
RUN, don't walk, RUN to your local store and find this ice cream! Oh. My. Goodness! It is SO good!!! Please pray for my resistance to the call of this ice cream from the freezer after the kids go to bed each night! :) YUM!
RUN, don't walk, RUN to your local store and find this ice cream! Oh. My. Goodness! It is SO good!!! Please pray for my resistance to the call of this ice cream from the freezer after the kids go to bed each night! :) YUM!And my funniest one, Olivia was the soup queen today. She actually really likes soup. Loves to have it for school lunch, really likes it unlike the boys. I thought for sure she'd pick the Princess or Cars chicken noodle, Chicken and Stars, etc. Oh no, not my Olivia! She picked (she was asked to choose three cans of condensed) one can of Clam Chowder (not a surprise as we've had this and she loves it!) but then she choose not one, but TWO cans of SPLIT PEA W/ HAM AND BACON! We've never had this. The picture, let alone the name, was enough to make me gag. I'm sorry, I love peas, so does she, but really??? I was shocked! I could MAYBE see one can, but TWO!? But it was her choice, and I let it slide.
So, for lunch today I made them the Split Pea soup, with half bologna sandwiches, and grapes. I knew the boys would NOT like the soup. Not only do they not really like soup, they both don't like peas. So I told them since it wasn't their choice that they would need to eat their two requisite bites and then could be done (and still have their dessert that Liam picked). Olivia downed the whole bowl ... and said she loved it! So surprised! But glad, because there's one can left and she can have it for school lunches! :)
The kids did really well at the store today, they were super excited to choose some of the groceries, and I hope that this is something that will "work" long term. It was a good day!
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Olivia - 14
Braeden - 11
Liam - 9
Macy - 5
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4 years ago
4 comments:
Hey, really nice blog! i like it! My interest also includes God too! Actually i was thinking about making an online missionary group. Check out my blog for more info. It is called Lost Sheep, Get the Evidence.
Congrats on a successful grocery shopping trip!!!! I think it should continue to work 4 u. My DD is only 5 and learning to spell and write. So she gets to check the frig and pantry and write the list w/ me helping her spell. Then gets to help select @ the store. I actually find grocery shopping alone to be lonely. I enjoy her going and her input!
Fun! When my now 6 year old came... I think he had never even seen a vegitable in real life. LOL!I started having him pick them out and help prepare them. We would make a big deal about him "cooking" the vegitalbe for dinner. Now he is my biggest veggie eater.
Good job and a successful shopping day.
great idea! and super funny about the split pea soup. YUCK! oh, and I hear you on grocery shopping. OY.