Comments on: Shopping With Kids: Do You or Don’t You?

By: Melissa

Melissa — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 01:01:58 +0000

Thanks for sharing, Elizabeth. What if you switched off who you took to the store? It would give you some one on one time and save everyone from the fighting…

By: Melissa

Melissa — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 00:59:39 +0000

Thank you for sharing! That sounds like a great plan, and I hope you’ll drop back by in a few months and let me know how your experiment went!

By: Melissa

Melissa — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 00:58:09 +0000

That is too cute, thanks for sharing Tami! :) Funny, but some of my fondest memories in my childhood are shopping with my grandma, helping her with her coupons, and of course getting a cookie at the bakery :)

By: Elizabeth@TheThriftyDivas

Elizabeth@TheThriftyDivas — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 00:49:00 +0000

Melissa, great article! I admit that I would rather go without my kids so I be more productive but you raise some great points about "teaching" my kids while I shop. My problem is that my 2 boys (ages 5 and 7) fight and act horrible while I am trying to shop so it's just not a pleasant time for any of us! If I could find a way to keep them from fighting, we'd have a great time! :) .-= Elizabeth@TheThriftyDivas´s last blog ..Printable Coupon For 2-1 Gold ‘n Plump Chicken =-.

By: Household

Household — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 23:39:58 +0000

These are some good points. I have the luxury/challenge of having my mother-in-law live with us, and she always wants the kids to stay home with her because it’s “easier.” Although I am often grateful, I also feel like sometimes my kids and I are missing out on the benefits! It’s good to miss out on the hassles, too, but those are part of parenting and learning how to respond well to them is a great lesson for us AND our children. I love the idea of taking one at a time – that would make her happy because she gets one-on-one time with the one who stays home, and I get one-on-one hands on learning with the one who comes with me! I think I’ll try to incorporate that into my life over the next month or two and see what benefits we gain. Thanks for a good topic and discussion!

By: Tami

Tami — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 20:29:21 +0000

I take my 3 yr old with me all the time. We get a cookie at the bakery for free and I grab a bottle of juice in produce (both where I start in the store) and head down the aisles. I hand thelighter items to him and he drops them in the cart. Although it can get tiresome, it is a great way to teach him to be a helper, teach him patience (and remind me of that skill too) and the value of money. We were walking through a store one time and he saw a flashy toy. He was quite taken with it and started to reach out for it, then stopped, shook his head and said in a very serious voice, “No, it’s too ‘spensive. We better not Mommy.” I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, it was too sweet!

By: Melissa

Melissa — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 20:08:22 +0000

I can definitely understand only taking one at a time, Prudent Homemaker. You are right, trying to fit kids and food in the cart can be tricky. Those carts with the extra seats (sometimes look like cars) are fun for the kids- but I have a hard time maneuvering those, too :)

By: Melissa

Melissa — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 20:06:19 +0000

Wow, Lori! That is incredible! Standing ovation to you- 6 boys! I thought I was doing well with just my 2 (and sometimes I don’t take my youngest who is only 2). You have inspired me even more- and you are doing a great job teaching those boys! Thanks for sharing.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 20:04:46 +0000

Glad to hear that, Megan! Thanks for sharing…unfortunately, Expedia has not been very good for me…they wouldn’t let me change my flight coming back from BlogHer and now I will miss my son’s 1st of Kindergarten.

By: Victoria

Victoria — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 19:02:50 +0000

Haha, you women are brave! I just recieved a blanket, beautiful with peronalized message on all 4 sides. Not my most frugal purchase, but well worth it. I ordered it for my 1 year old and my 4 year old asked, “was that free?”…..I wish,lol!!

By: The Prudent Homemaker

The Prudent Homemaker — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 17:35:46 +0000

Wow, Lori, you’re amazing!

I have my list organized in the way I walk through the store and I have coupons ready, but I find it easier to go without the children, or to take one child at a time. I have 6 children as well, ages 8 to 5 months. The simple logistics of where to put all of the children and the food is a tricky thing! For my children, it’s a special treat just to be alone with mom.

Of course, I don’t go shopping very often, so when I go, they all want to go!

By: Lori

Lori — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 17:21:19 +0000

I usually take my 6 boys (10yrs-9mos) and it goes pretty well. I have to have my list and coupons ready and hand them out to the boys so they can race to find the items I need. If everyone is good they all get a small piece of candy of gum. If 1 boy is acting out the other brothers help out because they want the candy. On the rare occasion I go by myself I take my ipod and jam out.

By: Megan

Megan — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:33:53 +0000

I’ve noticed lately that my 6 year old son questions everything I buy with “Do you have a coupon for that?” If I tell him no, he has a disappointed look. I try to explain that I do buy certain things that are just on sale and don’t have a coupon or sometimes we buy things because we need or like it (For example, one particular O Organics salad dressing at Safeway that we all love, but rarely have a coupon for). I love that he is learning the value of saving money and as he’s getting older, I can explain a little more to him about saving money while we shop. We’ve set up some fun family goals (Hawaiian vacation) that I refer to a lot while shopping and saving. We actually were supposed to leave for Maui this coming Saturday, but unfortunately had to cancel the entire trip 3 weeks ago because my son broke his leg pretty bad. The silver lining is that the entire trip was booked on Expedia and we were able to get refunded.

By: join

join — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 06:03:02 +0000

kids clothes http://www.toyourbaby.com

By: Grocery Shopping Trip 7/14

Grocery Shopping Trip 7/14 — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 04:48:30 +0000

[...] such a joy to have tag along. Melissa over at Saving Sense with Sense wrote a post today titled Shopping With Kids: Do You or Don’t You?. It was a great post explaining the benefits of having your older children join you. I absolutely [...]