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An Ode To Making Grocery Shopping Without Your Kids The ‘Me Time’ It Is

by Scary Mommy Team
Updated: 
Originally Published: 
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When grocery shopping, do you think to yourself, “I’d rather be anywhere else”? Grocery shopping is a necessary adult thing you must do from now until forever, and sometimes while you’re standing in aisle 9 with a kid begging for a free sample you feel every minute of that “forever.” But isn’t life about perspective?

I mean, this is a store WITH FOOD. Like, LOTS OF FOOD. You can head down one aisle and be optimistic that this is the week you’re gonna eat healthy (looking at you, kale) or make a beeline to the frozen cases so you can eat your feelings (hellooo, gelato) because it’s BEEN A WEEK.

And in that way, isn’t grocery shopping without your kids really an opportunity rather than a drag?

That’s how I choose to see food shopping on my best days — not as this thing I’m forced to do but as an opportunity to really lean into making it awesome.

Sometimes You Should Count Grocery Shopping As “Me Time”

Technically, I’d never equate a girls’ night out with shopping for organic bananas. But other times you need a win. Girls’ night out requires a whole lot of preparation that usually ends up with me pleading to the night sky that someone cancels so I can dive headfirst into the couch. At the grocery store, I’m three days into my dry shampoo habit and riding solo through the aisles. I consider this a win — I’ve left the house and I didn’t have to do anything except roll with it. Also, I AM GORGEOUS. So help the person who sees these sweats in the salsa aisle and thinks otherwise.

You Get To Talk To Actual Adults

Sometimes being a mom means having fascinating conversations about the color of what’s coming out of your kid’s nose. Going to the grocery store solo is like walking into a happening bar only without (necessarily) being hit on. Tell someone they have great taste in fresh produce and make a new friend, or start an impassioned debate about whether instant coffee actually deserves to be sold alongside the regular coffee. Adult world is glorious, right?!

All Those Podcasts Everyone’s Talking About Aren’t Going To Listen To Themselves

So much content; so much going on in your really real life that you can’t listen to it all. Unless you consider grocery shopping as prime podcast listening time. And you should. If you’re riding solo, you can dedicate at least an hour to uninterrupted stories. Also, who doesn’t love laughing like a maniac to themselves while walking down an aisle? Nothing to see here, Janice!

One Time I Brought A Book And Was The Envy Of The Deli Counter

That’s right — one time I accessorized my grocery shopping trip with a game changer. See, the deli counter can take more than a minute and I just so happened to have a book on me like it was the 20th century. Eyes lit up, a man commented to his wife that I “came prepared,” and it was glorious. Sure, I could update a social network — and that’s cool — but reading is pretty fun too.

Order Store Pickup And Then Watch The Show You Love Or Do Something Else Entirely

Mindless multitasking is the absolute best! Meaning, while you’re watching a show, something you really need to do is getting done and not by you. It’s mental confetti cannons and gummy bears, glorious. You mean the only thing I need to do is order store pickup through ClickList by Kroger and a magical store associate picks out my items? STOP IT RIGHT NOW. Looks like this “Law & Order” marathon can keep chugging along. Or, if I’m neck deep in momming, this Saturday soccer game just got REAL on the sidelines. Real productive, that is. I mean the possibilities are endless.

Would you rather be any other place than in a store, heading down the aisles, pushing the mutant cart with the third wheel that won’t spin? On some days, absolutely. But grocery shopping doesn’t have to suck. Promise.

ClickList® is an online grocery ordering service from Kroger. Now you can shop online for the products you need and pick up your order at the store from the convenience of your car! Our associates will even bring out your order and load it into your car. Visit Kroger.com or download the app today on iTunes or Google Play to start shopping online today!

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