Praise God- We May Have Found An Answer..

Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! I think we may have found an answer to our shopping, um... experiences. Notice how I use a nice word there (as opposed to disasters, hell-trips, or the list-topper for things that I hate doing with Abbie).
Yes, it's true. My two year old is not the best shopping buddy. All of you mothers of two year olds or previously two year olds can faint with surprise right about now.
But today, from what will hereon be known as the day God finally answered my prayers for grocery shopping salvation, we found a solution. Or at least a TEMPORARY solution. Is anything NOT temporary with children, particularly toddlers?
We went to Kroger. On a Friday afternoon. After daycare and playing all day. Before dinner. It was not a recipe for success, but I brought snacks and water. Then, like I always do with every shopping trip with my darling daughter, I ran into the battlefield full speed, holding onto my helmet and praying hard. The goal is to get in and get out and not get shot or killed, after all.
We had never been to this Kroger before. We learned right away that they have the little kid carts that Abbie likes- the ones that they can push. You don't see a LOT of kids, especially 2 year olds, pushing these in stores because most kids are content to sit in the car carts or ride in the ones where you can watch TV. Not my two year old. Oh, no. We lasted about 1 shopping trip before the appeal of the Car Cart wore off. And my toddler doesn't care about TV.
So we push the kiddie carts when they are available. However, the complication up until this point had been that we had not found a grocery store that we were actually SHOPPING at that had the kiddie carts. For example, the other store that has them has groceries that are way too expensive. But my bank, pharmacy, and coffee place are there, so we go a lot. And Abbie pushes the little kiddie cart. But Kroger's cart was BIG (well, as far as kiddie carts are concerned). And Abbie was excited. "Abbie cart!" she told me. I was excited, too. "All right, honey, get your Abbie cart and let's go!"
This was me throughout the store "Ok, honey, remember to watch mommy and follow me."
"Abbie, remember not to hit people with your cart."
"Ok, sweetie, you have to look up or you'll run things over."
"Slow down, speed racer."
But she did very, very well. And of course the other patrons could not get enough of her. Here she is, with her cute little red-headed behind, and she's prancing around with this cart (with groceries in it!) that she can barely see over. Lol. Seriously, her eyes were BARELY over the part that you hold with your hands.
I had to giggle when she picked up a single banana and tossed it into her cart as if to say "ok, check that off the list. Let's go. We've got things to do." Moments later, she decided she was hungry. So I encouraged her to eat her snack of goldfish while we were stopped and I was looking for things. But she did not want to put those fish down. And if you know Abbie, you know that EVERYTHING is a multi-tasking experience. So here goes the little girl who people can't even believe can push a cart and she grabs the front of the cart with one hand so that she can hold her snack with the other. And she's just prancing about this store like "hey, look at me. I shop and eat at the same time." I should've given her a cell phone and let everybody laugh at how she holds it with her shoulder instead of her hand, even when there's nothing else in her hands. Lol.
Anyway, the point of the story is that we made it through an HOUR AND A HALF of shopping time without incident. All because Abbie was able to push her own cart and carry her own groceries. For us, the mommy/daughter team that you'll usually find in the middle of the men's section taking a time out, that is a miracle.And she truly enjoyed it. And the other patrons enjoyed her. Despite how many people she cut off, I didn't get one dirty look. And everybody actually told me it was okay. So that was nice as well. And of course to put the cherry on top, the cashier wasn't finding my kroger card with my phone number, and the guy behind us immediately offered his. Right as Abbie was just starting to show signs of being tired of the grocery store.
I walked out of Kroger feeling a little drained, as usual, but very very good about the overall experience. So Kroger on Grapevine Highway, we may not be shopping anywhere else from here on out, no matter what your prices. Because you have the miracle carts.