Playland.

The grocery chain that we like to shop at is called Fred Meyer (it's part of the Kroger conglomerate of grocery stores). There is a nice Fred Meyer near us that we most often shop at. For the past 8 months or so, I've found it increasingly more difficult to shop with M2. She doesn't want to sit in the cart, yet she isn't old enough to be trusted to walk beside the cart (I've tried this. Not a good plan). I often start our shopping trip at the bakery getting her one of the free shortbread cookies to eat. Then I find myself darting around the store, watching the cookie like a ticking time bomb knowing that as soon as she is done eating it, the whining, screaming, and crying could start up again.

A month or so ago I noticed that in one part of the store, near the pharmacy, is a little nook called Playland. It is a little play area for kids complete with toys, a playhouse, and an endless cycle of Disney movies on a flat screen TV. It is staffed with a store employee who watches the kids, and best of all it is free for parents while they are shopping. Two weeks ago during our weekly shopping trip we entered the store and headed right to Playland so that I could sign M2 up and get her settled in to play while I shopped with P5 sleeping in the Beco carrier on my chest.

I read over the enrollment form and cheated just a little where it asked for her age since it noted that 2 is the minimum age for Playland. It didn't ask for her birth date, just her age, so I wrote in "2." She is close enough to 2, and being tall for her age she can pass off as 2. I began shopping, blissfully enjoying the fact that there was no longer a whiny toddler in my cart. 20 minutes later I heard my name being paged over the loudspeaker instructing me to return to Playland. M2 was standing at the gate hysterically crying. Last week we tried to go back to Playland, but she burst into tears before I could even leave the area. We'll keep trying, and hopefully one of these days she'll realize that Playland is way more fun than grocery shopping.