grocery store epic fail

vlagrl29 · August 2014

I thought I could do some grocery shopping without too much stress today but I was wrong. DD threw about 3 different tantrums throughout the store. The first one was about the car cart. She wanted the one I didn't pick. I didn't change it up because the other one was too big for me to handle. The 2nd tantrum was over wanting to get out of the cart during checkout, but I knew she would go straight for the candy and start eating it. The 3rd was over not getting the prize for the chicken she found in the store. The store we go to gives prizes if you can find clifford the chicken hiding somewhere in the aisles. I didn't let her get it because I didn't want to reward her bad behavior. She continued to throw the tantrum to the car and then all the way home. I feel like a failure today. Not to mention I got a death stare from someone in the store. 3 1/2 really blows! Somehow I scratched my finger in the process of it all and ran over one of the baby salamanders in our driveway by accident

Socialworkgirl · August 2014

Oh man, grocery store tantrums are the worst. I also think there is a special place in hell for people who make it worse by giving death stares. What do they want you to do about it?

vlagrl29 · August 2014

I almost cussed her out if she was about to say something to me because I felt she would honestly. It was in the parking lot. I did put DD in time out during the first tantrum….not much I could do during the 2nd or 3rd because I just wanted to get the hell out of dodge. THen on the way home DD kept unbuckling her carseat belt so I had to pull over at a local middle school and she got out in the grass and kept throwing the tantrum. Then she had to pee so I had her pee in the grass. Finally she calmed down and I told her I couldn't put up with her unbuckling her belt.

bumpuser8448316 · August 2014

WTF is wrong with people??! We took DS to get ice cream after his 1st day of school today. He threw a tantrum over wanting a particular table that wasn't big enough for all of us. Then DD screamed her head off because she was so tired. Some bitch told me it was time to take everyone home because they were bothering her. It took everything in my power not t tell her to FRO

vlagrl29 · August 2014

QueSyrah said:

WTF is wrong with people??! We took DS to get ice cream after his 1st day of school today. He threw a tantrum over wanting a particular table that wasn't big enough for all of us. Then DD screamed her head off because she was so tired. Some bitch told me it was time to take everyone home because they were bothering her. It took everything in my power not t tell her to FRO

you are so better than I am. I was ready to tell her off.

zbeesma86 · August 2014

I swear the DAY Z turned 2 she turned into a mini tantrum tornado. Any little thing sets her off lately!!!
Today she couldn't get the cap off the marker- hurled the marker across the room and flipped her little play table over. I couldn't believe it...

I've gotten a side eye or two over her in Publix. What can I do? Put a muzzle on her?

id012 · August 2014

Today at Cvs I was about to walk out ans ds freakin ran from me. He was seriously runing around the store with no shoes on and I couldn't catch him.
Ugh the looks I got.
I end in up just standing at the front to make sure he didnt run out of the store and caught him when he ran close.
It didnt help that I was at Cvs picking up the RX I need for the upper respiratory infection I have and I cant breath!

Twiggymommy · August 2014

Troy threw up all over Kroger the other day. He thinks it's funny to gag himself all. The. Time. And occasionally hell puke a little but he'll swallow it and stop gaging himself. But the other day... He was sitting in the back of the buggy (because he refuses to sit in the seat part now) and little man was in the front in his car seat and Troy projectile vomited allover himself and the back of the car seat, and the groceries.....
It must be the week.... Or the age... Idk? .

Socialworkgirl · August 2014

zbeesma86 said:
Today she couldn't get the cap off the marker- hurled the marker across the room and flipped her little play table over. I couldn't believe it...

@zbeesma86‌ This is SO my DD who turned 2 in June. The throwing things is about to drive me up the wall!

raraavis28 · August 2014

zbeesma86 said:

I swear the DAY Z turned 2 she turned into a mini tantrum tornado. Any little thing sets her off lately!!!
Today she couldn't get the cap off the marker- hurled the marker across the room and flipped her little play table over. I couldn't believe it...

I've gotten a side eye or two over her in Publix. What can I do? Put a muzzle on her?

Not gonna lie, the visual I have of little Z going all Hulk on the play table is cracking me up....I'm sure you didn't find it so funny, and I'm gonna be getting this x2 before long, but still.....

vlagrl29 · August 2014

Socialworkgirl said:

Today she couldn't get the cap off the marker- hurled the marker across the room and flipped her little play table over. I couldn't believe it...

@zbeesma86‌ This is SO my DD who turned 2 in June. The throwing things is about to drive me up the wall!

It drives me nuts too. She will throw napkins after she uses them. Things always are flying in front of my face. She kicks off her pull up in the morning, it's crazy.

JMC11511 · August 2014

OP- sorry you had a rough day. L is like this too. DH always thought I was exaggerating the dirty looks I would get when he threw tantrums in public. But a few weeks ago, he threw a fit on a ride at Disneyland because he wanted to stand up in the boat and we made him sit back down. If you're going to Disneyland and don't expect to hear overtired, overstimulated children throwing the occasional fit, you should not have come to Disneyland.
I told DH last night we must be crazy for thinking about having another child. And people keep telling me three is worse. So encouraging...

vlagrl29 · August 2014

LalaMama81 said:

Did you try using the chicken both as a distraction and incentive? I'm sure you did, I know that at trader joes they do a similar thing and it helps distract dd2 if she's cranky.

yes I did and it worked for the most part. We found him towards the end of the trip. Problem was because of her meltdown during checkout I didn't let her pick out the treat in the end which started meltdown #3. luckily today is much better, but it is only 1pm.

JeffandLeslie · August 2014

I have just started grocery shopping on Sunday nights after DD is in bed and it is the BEST.

MesmrEwe · August 2014

Even though I don't drink - all I can think reading this is "You deserve a glass of wine!" (as does any parent who tries to manage the best they can with the store meltdowns IMNSO!!!)..

Yes, everyone says "Terrible Twos" But they forget to mention the "Trying Three's" ... "F'd up Fours" yada yada... If anything, these phases teach us that there's only so much as a parent we can really do.

PaisleyRuth · August 2014

My kids are 2 and 3.5. Let me tell you how well MY last grocery store outing went

. Seriously, I never thought -before i had kids - that I would be the mom getting alllll the judging stares at the store. It's either put them in the cart and have them climbing out, throwing tantrums, standing up, fighting with each other, breaking groceries, etc OR let them walk and have them running up and down the aisles, grabbing food, getting in people's way, pushing my cart way too fast and directly into shelves, etc. Those are the only 2 modes of my kids at the store.

vlagrl29 · August 2014

cjcouple said:

Ok, maybe I am wrong but I would have let her get the prize from the chicken. I mean she didn't act up until you were checking out and even then, I give my kids a little leeway. Shopping sucks for little kids and if she was looking for it all along and behaving. I might have given in. idk, it just sounds like she was set up a little bit.

Instead I most likely would have given a time out in the store, or given a warning and removal of a privilege. Maybe that is the prize going into timeout?

The tantrums actually happened as soon as we got in the store because I got her the "wrong" grocery cart. The one she wanted, I can't even handle by myself because it's SO long. I put her in time out for that and she had already gotten some strawberry milk for her "treat", then wanted candy by wanting out of the cart. I just didn't want to give in because I give in so many times. This trip was ridiculous.

vlagrl29 · August 2014

broccolisgirl said:

DC2London said:

I'm sorry, grocery store meltdowns are awful. and 3 is some fresh hell that NOBODY TELLS YOU ABOUT

Amen. Nothing shocks you more than that first time your sweet child violently knocks his water glass off the table because he didn't want to wait for you to eat that last bite of granola before you got him some grapes. Yeah, that's fun. We went into talk-through-our-emotions bootcamp, and it's much better.

I've been trying that, hoping to get there one day

vlagrl29 · August 2014

cjcouple said:

cjcouple said:

Ok, maybe I am wrong but I would have let her get the prize from the chicken. I mean she didn't act up until you were checking out and even then, I give my kids a little leeway. Shopping sucks for little kids and if she was looking for it all along and behaving. I might have given in. idk, it just sounds like she was set up a little bit.

Instead I most likely would have given a time out in the store, or given a warning and removal of a privilege. Maybe that is the prize going into timeout?

The tantrums actually happened as soon as we got in the store because I got her the "wrong" grocery cart. The one she wanted, I can't even handle by myself because it's SO long. I put her in time out for that and she had already gotten some strawberry milk for her "treat", then wanted candy by wanting out of the cart. I just didn't want to give in because I give in so many times. This trip was ridiculous.
I understand the entire trip was bad. but in this circumstance the time out was her punishment for the first tantrum. that is done and over with. If you said at the beginning of trip that the chicken reward would not happen because of her initial tantrum, that is fine. but you let her actively look for chicken and she believed that she would get the reward for finding it. so she should get it if she completed the game. for the cart deal I would have wanted to do another timeout. then when she finished and calmed down you move on and let her collect her prize for completing her task. Listen, i am not an expert but in my experience it important to keep rewards already completed and discipline separate. if they earn a reward by doing a task it should not be foregone AFTER the task was completed. make sense? I am not judging. Honestly, I just think next time you should be careful not to overlap them.

No, I totally get that. I wasn't quite in my right mind the entire trip. A Lot of times I don't feel like I have a good grasp on this thing called parenting.

vlagrl29 · August 2014

cjcouple said:

oh I understand. just something to think about if it happens again. I have walked out of a store before leaving a half full cart at courtesy because of crazy behavior. I am sure store workers were. ticked.

I really did think about that, but it had been 2 weeks since the last grocery trip and we were out of lots of food.

vlagrl29 · August 2014

LalaMama81 said:

I agree with CJ. I get it, though, we don't always make the best decisions in the moment even if they seem right at the time. I'd try to teach her how to walk in the store w/I grabbing candy, etc, then you have the cart as a place for timeout. Dd2 rarely rides in the cart anymore at barely 3, but knows thats where she goes if she misbehaves, which is useful. But yea, 3 can really suck sometimes!!! We just decided that the almost 3 year old is more work than the 6 year old & 3 month old put together.

yeah, if we go to target for a short trip I don't put her in the cart, but if I don't have her in the cart during the grocery store it would be complete chaos. I need to work on that.

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