Wednesday, March 4, 2015

The Dumbest Thing I Do as a Mom

Now I know what you're thinking: you only do one dumb thing as a mom? The answer to that is, regrettably, no.

But today was grocery day, and I can tell you that today, grocery shopping certainly feels like the dumbest thing I do as a mom.

The Dumbest Thing I Do as a Mom -- there are many mundane chores inherent in being a stay-at-home mom, but this one is perhaps the dumbest  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}
photo credit


From the time I wrangle the preschooler and the baby into the car until the time I finish putting away the last grocery item in the kitchen, about 90 minutes has passed.

What did I actually do during that time?

Well, first I wandered through every aisle in the store, picking things up and putting them in my cart.

Then I wheeled to the register, where I removed every single thing I just put in the cart.

The bagboy took the food and put it back in my cart, so I could take it all out again in the parking lot.

At home I drag the bags into the house, and finally end this ridiculous errand by doing the exact same thing I did in the grocery store an hour ago, but in reverse: putting each and every item back on the shelf where it belongs, except this time with the added bonus of hearing my 3-year-old tell me that she's "hungry," "hates shopping," and (when she's feeling particularly dramatic,) "never gets to do anything fun."

Ta-da! I have just spent 90 minutes of my life moving things around. Loading and unloading the same things, over and over, for an hour and half.

To me, there can be no dumber way to spend an afternoon than that. And the best part is, I'll do it again next week!

Surely, there's got to be a more efficient system than this for getting food into my house. I find it hard to believe that human civilization hasn't advanced to the point where I don't have to touch the same carton of milk 5 times to get it into my fridge.

(I've been at this mom gig long enough to know that half of it's just going to end up spilled in the carpet, anyway.)
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18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Haha, maybe you should check out grocery delivery! But seriously, grocery shopping can be really frustrating...I totally feel you!

Kendall said...

Grocery shopping is mundane and difficult at times. I've never thought about how many times 1 item is touchedo on 1 trip.

We've moved to 1 big shop a month, which drastically cuts down on the aggravation of finding and doing shopping each week, or even every other week. :)

Anonymous said...

the shopping and restocking were far more productive than the writing of this blog... doesnt everyone, mom or not, do the same?

there are also ways to make even such mundane tasks far more engaging as parent-child time

Peggy said...

I hear you, believe. I've considered just offering it all ( well, part of it ) on Amazon and being done with it. I am so sick of shopping, even without the kids part.

Jenny Evans said...

You know how America runs on Dunkin? Well, our house runs on Amazon. Almost. The UPS guy already knows way too much about our family from delivering here all the time. If I could figure out a way to get fresh milk and produce on Amazon, I would!

Monica said...

We also do one big shop per month. Most grocery stores in my area have a 15% off day once a month, so we get all our nonperishables, meat (which I separate and freeze) and household items then. For the rest of the month, it's just quick trips for veggies, dairy and bread. It does mean meal planning for an entire month instead of week-by-week but we usually do pretty well with it.

Queen Mom Jen said...

It is dumb! We should revolt and make robots like Rosie on the Jetsons do this chore for us. I do have to say I am impressed with your 90 minutes. That has my time beat by quite a bit!

JoAnn said...

This made me laugh! Essentially, this what you do while grocery shopping. A lot of moving things around. If only there was another option!

Jenny Evans said...

Yes, whatever happened to every family having their own personal robot maid? Seems like our vision of the future in the '60s (at least on children's TV) was way cooler than it actually is.

Anonymous said...

I hear ya! Grocery shopping gets old fast and it isn't like you can just skip it for a while. There would be a mutiny. I've always said if I could have one servant, it would be someone to buy the food and cook it.

Rachel said...

hahaha! It's impossibly inefficient. My Mom is well-known for boycotting shopping for as long as humanly possible. There's 5 kids still living at home--and they usually have to start demonstrating how the house is completely empty of anything edible before she'll go--but she does buy a lot when she's there in order to maximize between trips...it's just that my family has always been good at eating insanely large amounts of food.

Jenny Evans said...

I've started doing the same thing. I usually go when the kids are starting to pack ketchup packets and butter sandwiches in their lunches because there's nothing else in the house.

Tiffany {A Touch of Grace} said...

They have grocery delivery services now! Not sure what area you're in but there are a few here in Seattle. I actually really enjoy grocery shopping. I just like walking around the store, thinking of new recipes and about what it took to get all the food to the store. But with kiddos it's a different story. :)

Thanks for linking up at the Shine Blog Hop!

BritishMumUSA said...

Hahahahaha, We have a rule in our house. I go food shopping, if the hubs is home he PUTS it away as I have done enough moving of food. If not him, then I buy Sushi and bribe the youngest to help me. Here is where it gets good. After the food is put away I get to hang with her, chat and eat sushi with her. It is a fun date that she has no idea that she is attending :)

xoxoxo

Unknown said...

AMEN! I gave up taking my daughter though because every time we go to walmart, we have to get mcdonalds..or if we go to Giant Eagle she has to play in the kid zone..and get all germy and sick. It is so much easier to go without her, but still a pain in the butt because when i leave I get phone calls every 20 minutes..dont forget to get this, oh add this to the list, mom can you get me this..and it just keeps going lol. Thanks for sharing this! I would love you to stop by this week and link up at LiveRandomlySimple.com party goes live monday 10pm eastern! Have a great week!!
Jess

Julie S said...

Ha, I never thought about how many times we pick up and put down the same food item just to get it in our house. Yea there has to be a more streamlined approach, that isn't cost prohibitive. I'd love to do grocery delivery, but I doubt it makes sense financially heh.

Anonymous said...

Become Breatharians!! Lol

Jenny Evans said...

Not even embarrassed to say that I had to Google "breatharian" to find out what it was. That said, sounds like a pretty good idea. Think of all those trips to the store I would never have to take again...