Have you ever heard a complaint or maybe just a comment that you just can't relate to? For me it is someone who is complaining about shopping with both of their kids in tow. Don't get me wrong it is as much of a pain in the rear end to me as it is for anyone else, I just never have really had another option.
See my husband has always worked pretty crappy shifts since he has joined the military (for the past three months it has been roughly from 2pm til at least midnight and usually later than midnight). It is either long hours or a deployment. He is just not around much when I need to get the shopping done. Back at the old base I could leave the kids with him on the weekend to do the shopping, even though that is breaking the first of the cardinal rules for grocery shopping the military. Do NOT shop for groceries on the weekend. The second rule for grocery shopping in the military is do NOT shop on payday or especially pay day weekend. At this base shopping on the weekend is a bad bad bad idea. Have you ever seen a line all the way from the cashiers to the meat department in the back of the store? I have. It just seems that the path of least resistance for grocery shopping is to just grab the kids and go during the day.
Now that LaLa is in school it has actually become a lot easier to get my shopping done during the day. One less kids to deal with. However, I usually have something come up during the day and don't get to the commissary on time. So that still leaves me shopping with both of the girls in tow. It really isn't that big of a deal because they both know the drill now.
See the last time my husband was deployed (to Guam) we came up with a system. Back then, KiKi would ride in the basket seat (she was around 18 months old at the time) and LaLa would help me pick out the items. It slowed my trip down, but it eliminated my problem of LaLa trying to wander off, run down the asiles, or the dreaded lollygagging. I hate lollygagging more than anything in the world. Not to say that we didn't have our problems, but we had a system*. Now we (I) have refined the system to incorporate both of the kids in the shopping. I will say "Hey we need juice." Then I will give them choices and they get to pick on of the choices for the juice we will get. Then one of them will drop it into the cart. It usually works pretty well**.
I guess what I am saying is sometimes I have more in common with single parents than I do with married ones. Not that I don't have the most awesome and helpful husband in the world when he is home. He helps out as much as he can around the house and I have absolutely no complaints about him at all when it comes to being helpful with the kids. It is just that he is gone a lot. It is the nature of the military beast. We just have had to learn to adapt and overcome for an activity that a lot people would try to avoid.
* We also had a system when LaLa would misbehave and I would ask her "Hey LaLa, who's the boss?" and she would say "You're the boss." and then I would say "Ok then listen to me"...it actually worked. Of course that got muddled the moment The Man got back from Guam. Then it was like "Hey LaLa, who's the boss?" and she would be like "Ummm well....." Thanks kid.
** The there are also time when I have to have a pow wow with them in the middle of the produce department and say through clenched teeth in a really low voice "So help me God if you two do not stop acting like heathens I will leave this cart right here and we will go home."***
*** Yes I have left a full cart of groceries in the middle of a store before because my kids were acting up. Sorry people at Wal-mart in Warrensburg, MO. My bad, but my kids were acting like heathens.
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