Making a list and checking it twice

I see people at the grocery store all the time who look like they are genuinely enjoying themselves. They hum to themselves as they consult lists and sniff produce and examine labels. They chat with deli personnel about meat specials and offer advice about making homemade pasta sauce to people standing near them in the canned tomatoes aisle. I am not one of those people.

There are few chores that I hate as much as grocery shopping. I am at my most indecisive staring at a shelf filled with cold cereal options. I am far too impatient to take a number and stand in line at the deli counter. The smell of the meat section makes me want to immediately devote my life to vegetarianism. I am not the type of person who makes a list and supplements those basic household needs with exciting finds and great sale items. I am the type of person who will wait until the cupboard is bare, then drag myself off to the store grumbling, wander the aisles randomly for a little while and come home without half of the things we need. Grocery shopping is not my strong suit.

Yesterday, Paul announced that he and Julia were off to the grocery store. They had been working with a new science kit that she'd received for her birthday and they needed some standard household items to do their experiments. Needless to say, I was out of most of those "standard" items. Ever one to seize an opportunity, I asked them to pick up a half a dozen things that we were out of while they were there.

They returned home an hour later with everything they needed. The reason for their success? Julia's grocery list, carefully written out before they left with a little spelling help from Paul. She had clearly enjoyed everything about their shopping experience, from the list making on down. I no longer needed to make a Monday trip to the store to buy bread. Everyone was happy.

I know of people who claim that they had children so that there would be someone to take the garbage out or walk the dog. I'll happily do those things myself forever if I can just hand off the grocery shopping to my kid. How old do you think she has to be before I can just drop her off in front of the Shop Rite and tell her I'll be back for her and the groceries in an hour?