On Sunday, my usual day for grocery shopping, I was completely wiped out. Ainsley has had adenovirus for over a week and spent most of each night tossing and turning with a fever in my bed. We were all pretty tired, actually. Although I am capable of doing the shopping alone fairly quickly, I thought it might be fun for the whole family to go along so the kids could begin to understand how I select food and why I choose the things I buy. They might even enjoy having some input, as long as their choices meet my standards. Steve wasn't thrilled about spending Father's Day afternoon at the grocery store, but he still owed me for Mother's Day, so I made him come along. Now we're even.
Ainsley chose to ride in the front of the cart, the part with the pretend plastic truck with 2 sticky, germy, steering wheels and crusty seat belts. Ian was the driver of this Suburbanesque carriage. I cringed at the thought of how many times I would hear, "Leonid, cleanup on aisle [blank]" as we bumped and crunched our way through the store. I am certain that Leonid hates to see me in the store with children. Perhaps that is why he always seems so happy to see me when I am shopping solo - he greets me heartily in his thick Russian accent and calls me "good customer", for as you know, good customers leave their kids at home.
We started our spree in the bakery, searching for whole wheat bagels for Ian. He had tried one at brunch and loved it - plain! How awesome is that?! Now that there are two dozen minis in the freezer, he will change his mind about liking them. We made it past the cakes and cookies without incident only because Steve was blocking the left flank, I was blocking the right, Ainsley was too low to see anything, and Ian was preoccupied with keeping the cart moving in a straight line. Whew!
On to produce. Now keep in mind that as recently as four years ago, being this deep into the grocery store sent Ian into an absolute hissy fit. Sensory overload killed his ability to make it beyond this point. I am tremendously grateful his progress has made it possible for him to get through the entire store in one trip. As we walked through the veggies, I explained to the kids that I always go to the organic section first and buy as much of our produce there as is available. Ian even asked what "organic" means - what a wonderful boy! So I explained that organic produce is grown without pesticides and chemicals to make them larger and prettier. I believe this kind of food is better for our bodies, and that is why I buy it whenever I can. Then Ian proudly helped to choose our fruits and vegetables for the coming week. He knew this is an important job, and he seemed proud to select just the right bundle of broccoli.
When it came to selecting cereals, I told Ian how to read the nutrition labels and to look for cereals with less than ten grams of sugar and at least three grams of fiber per serving. He was determined to find a chocolate flavored cereal that met my criteria. Ainsley found her cereal right off the bat - an organic peanut butter puff of some sort, even made with whole grains. Wooooo hooooo! Soon we were all involved in Ian's quest for chocolate something-or-other. Eventually, we found two and let Ian pick the one he wanted. He carried the box for the remainder of the shopping trip, devouring every word on the label. Not once did he ask to break open the box to try it. He wanted to read about "his" cereal.
Then came the cookie/cracker/high carb food aisle. We had to go down it to get graham crackers. They are a staple in our house, right up there with milk and bread. I usually buy huge boxes of them at Costco. There really is no super-size of graham crackers large enough to fill the need at our house. It's an addiction almost as bad as crack. Anyway, right above the graham assortment were the very small boxes of sugar free Oreos. These are great for bribing small children into trying new vegetables or finishing their dinner when interest has waned. I gave them the choice between these delicious chocolate sandwich cookies or sugar free ice cream. The Oreos won unanimously. I knew, however, there would be trouble in frozen foods regardless of the enthusiasm for cookies. On we trekked.
As we rounded the dairy case and gathered two-percent milk, skim milk, fat free half and half (now that's an oxymoron) and low-fat vanilla soy milk, Ian confronted the one thing he couldn't resist - fudgecycles!
"Mom, we have to get these," Ian said with hope in his voice.
"No, Ian, you agreed on Oreos. It was an either-or offer," I reminded him.
"But Mom, they have 'no sugar added'. It says so on the box," he countered.
"Maybe next time you can get those instead of Oreos. Let's go," I advised.
"No, Mom - see! You can get movie tickets for Surf's Up if you buy them now!" pleaded my desperate son. He began to read aloud the fine printed details of this extraordinary deal. It seems I needed to buy ten qualifying dairy products in one purchase to receive two tickets to the movie.
I told him I was planning to take him to see the movie anyway, so buying unnecessary dairy items that would spoil before we could possibly consume them all - and that we did not need, because hey, we've got Oreos and graham crackers - was a waste of money. The begging continued as my attempts to get us through the Antarctica aisle before the edamame beans in the basket thawed were growing bleak.
Then a beautiful voice called out, "Ian! How are you?"
It was his school's librarian, one of his favorite grown-ups. I know she is in his top ten because he actually talks about her at home!
"What have you been doing this summer, Ian?" she asked with great interest. And Ian began explaining how we needed to buy more butter so he could get tickets to see this movie about penguins and on and on and on. . . . She listened to every word so patiently and lovingly. I see why he is so crazy about her. A wonderful person who listens to what he says AND she is the keeper of the world's knowledge in hard copy - how much more perfect can one be in the eyes of a 7 year old Aspie? Well, thank goodness for Mrs. J, because she managed to get him on another topic and we were able to complete our shopping escapade without a single meltdown. I may have to send her some flowers.
Upon arriving home, Ian helped Steve put away the groceries while I played nurse to Ainsley's once again rising fever. It must have been the bacteria on the icky shopping cart. Those little buggers sure move fast. Steve glanced over at me with a sour look on his face.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"That was not what I wanted to do on Father's Day." he said, disappointed.
I looked back at him with a raised eyebrow and a smirk and said, "Remember that next Mother's Day."
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