The Lesson of Tough Love..Learned in a Grocery Store.

Don't you just hate it when you go into a grocery store and there is a kid screaming through every aisle, throwing a fit, tossing things out of the cart, with tears running down their face? Yeah...me too.

I especially hate it after today, now that I have finally experienced the other side of that situation.  Yep.  It was my kid throwing a fit in the grocery store today!  You may remember  a certain post of mine this summer that was a reminder to myself and my husband that my daughter will one day throw a fit in the supermarket.  That day was today.  I will admit, that day came a little sooner than expected.

Nothing made her happy.  Not the sippy full of water.  Not the bowl of goldfish I packed just in case.  Not riding on daddy's shoulders. Not the two board books.  Not holding the pear. 

Sure, there were momentary distractions, such as letting her run around the personal hygiene aisle.  By the way what a great moment to choose to drop on all 4's and crawl through the store, Addie.  That sure got some looks.  I'm such a bad mother.

When she decided she no longer wanted to walk and just wanted to crawl all over the store, I gave up.  I was not going to let her crawl around the grocery store floor.  I'm not a germ-a-phobe, but yuck.  There is no telling what she was crawling on.  I picked her up and decided to carry her, which elicited many a protest, but what is a mom to do?  That's right.  Ignore it.  It was time to give Addison her first lesson in tough love.  She needs to learn that throwing a fit and causing mayhem is not the way to get what she wants.

I had no more options.  What she wanted was not even clear at this point. She just wanted to cry and squirm just to do it.  So, I let her.  We were at the check out lane, unloading groceries, and Addie was trying to climb up and over my shoulder to escape me.  Something she's never done before, and decided to pull out of her box of tricks right there in the middle of the store.  At least we were almost out of there and I wouldn't get any more glares from shoppers. Luckily, some nice old lady took pity on us and started talking to Addison, which at least calmed her down enough that I could keep a grip on her so she wouldn't fall on the floor.

We finally make it out of the grocery store...suddenly I'm holding an angel! I guess all she wanted was to not be grocery shopping.  I admit, it's not my favorite chore either, but I sure hope I figure out new ways to make it fun next week.

I am just glad we have adjusted our shopping schedule so that I'm not going alone with Addie.  While I'm sure I could handle it, I'm not so sure I'd want to.  I probably would have forgotten half my list, which would have meant we would turn around and do it again tomorrow.

Moral of the story (there are 3): Don't give in to the tantrum lest they learn how much it bugs you, be kind to little old ladies, & bring company.