Shopping with Kids – Priceless!

Would you think I was crazy to long for the days when I had four kids hanging on my grocery cart as I wheeled it through the aisles of the grocery store?  Think what you may, but I actually found myself in that frame of mind last Saturday. I needed to make a Costco run and announced to Tim that I would be back in about an hour. On a rare weekend home and without a writing project or home improvement task to keep him busy, Tim was antsy and saw the chance to go to Costco as an adventure. I was a little more skeptical and still trying to get a handle on what a Saturday looks like without the kids but with Tim home. (We are still getting used to this empty nest thing.) An hour and a half and $250 later, I discovered that kids are a whole lot less expensive to take to the store. The promise to my kids of a $1 pack of gum at checkout if they didn’t injure themselves or do any permanent damage to the facility was peanuts compared to the cartful of items that Tim sampled that day at Costco. Kids are easily satisfied with a gander at the lobster tank or a chance to see what a hammer will do to a purchased coconut. But husbands like to swing by the tool aisle and actually buy another hammer to add to their collection. They feel deprived if they can’t dip into the lobster tank and bring home a couple of crustaceans to go with the jalapeno sausages and filet mignons that they couldn’t resist. I never really thought about buying 48 ice cream sandwiches but we’ve got them now! And if anyone has any ideas about how to use 25 gallons of olive oil before it goes bad, please let me know. I’ve learned in the last 38 years of marriage that perspective is the key to happiness and on that day my perspective changed. I no longer saw a blown grocery budget and a bunch of food that we didn’t need. I saw a companionship building activity – a new hobby that we could enjoy together as a married couple.  Let’s call it a super date at a super store. I know you may already think I’m crazy but please don’t think I’m mean if I plan my next trip to Costco on a day that Tim is thousands of miles away. And if you see me there, please keep it to yourself! Here’s to full carts and empty nests, Love, Darcy