For many parents a routine trip to the grocery store can quickly turn into a nightmare. When haven't you ever gone to the grocery and not seen a child tantrumming or arguing with a parent? With the constant presentation of candy, snacks, and toys, the lack of child activities available during the trip, and the "waiting" that is common, it can send both a child and parent into overload. The following simple prevention strategies that can be done with a little bit of planning were developed to help make a routine trip to the grocery store not so painful. By planning ahead and keeping your child involved you can turn the grocery into an adventure instead of a nightmare.
The first thing to do is plan the trip as early in the day as possible. Most parents go to the grocery in the early evening hours, 5 and 6 pm and only during the work week. This timing is awful for the child who is exhausted from the school day, needs to finish homework, is hungry for dinner, and should be unwinding for bed. Try planning ahead to organize trips on the weekends. This will prevent any feelings of being rushed, will naturally be a more relaxed trip with more rested children. If you must go during the week and are fortunate to have another caregiver in the home, plan for one caregiver to go after dinner while the other is doing bedtime routine.
The next step is to plan ahead with activities. Bring your own snacks that you can provide your child with when they ask for candy. "You can't have MnMs, but you can have a banana." Hearing an alternative option instead of just "no" can often prevent problem behaviors. Plan activities that the child can appropriately engage in while you shop. For smaller kids, bring a book or travel computer game they can play in the card. For older children who do better with movement, you can try creating a shopping list for them with words or even pictures on it. While you are picking out the items you need, your child can be spotting the apples or bananas.
Another thing to keep in mind is to set clear expectations, consequences, and reinforcement before ever stepping foot in the store. If you don't know how you are going to respond to appropriate or problematic behavior, how is your child going to know how to choose to act? You can not blame them, if you don't spend time preparing them. Let your child know what is expected of them in the grocery store, what happens if they behave and what happens if they choose not to behave. Once you have set the limits, stick to them and do not make promises that you can not keep. In other words, if you say you are going to give warning to behavior or you are leaving, mean it! If you say, that appropriate behavior will earn them access to a treat, buy it!
