Nate and his treats

Nate and his tomatoes after a recent trip to the store

There are certainly things about having a third child that make life a little more challenging.  The endless supply of groceries we need for a family of five is one of them.  Grocery trips with "the third child" is not one of them.

By now, I have outsmarted those "helpful" grocery car carts.  You know, the ones that cause you to crash into everything because they are at least 15 feet long.  Its easier to maneuver a tractor trailer than those things.  I honestly bumped into a pregnant woman one time.  Classy.  Anyway, I no longer use them thanks to the handy list I carry for Nate. 

Because he is the only child I have to take to the grocery store, we make a list that he gets to hold and cross the items off of.  Time consuming but so worth it.  It also helps for the random items he wants to pick up along the way.  We check the list to see if the item he wants is on it, if not, we "have to wait until next time".

I have lots of fun with this game.  Nate does too.  BUT, my most helpful new tool is allowing him to buy only a few really special treats.  Like cherry tomatoes.  Yogurt covered raisins.  And maybe, if he is really lucky some carrots or something. 

Yup, these are the treats that Nate chooses.  And because I don't want that to change, I make sure he thinks those cherry tomatoes are the best treat out there.  REEEEAAALLLLYYY special treat buddy.