Last night I truck all 3 kids to Wal-Mart to pick up a few groceries. I got one of the carts with 2 kid seats in the front of the cart. So my dd 2 1/2 & ds 5 sit in there (my oldest walking). We get back to the dairy section and my dd did not like where my ds had his feet and started screaming & yelling (a new phase she is in). I explained to her where he feet belong but she did not want to hear it and continued to yell & scream. I took her out of that part & put her in the actual cart. She continued to scream louder and when I let go of her, she tried to kick her way out and almost fell out of the cart. By this point EVERYONE in Wal-Mart was staring at me - like I was beating her or something or maybe waiting for me to do something so they could call Child Protective! She would not stop. So with one hand I pulled the cart and put the milk & yogurt back we had put in our cart and we left. I was SO MAD at her but I did not let her get her way and she understood that Mommy was really mad at her!.
So I ended up having to go back up there after dh got home from work, which the roads had started getting really slippery.
UGHHHHH

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I think that you just told the story of my life! My 4 year old is the same way with the cart and her feet! I am sorry that you had to go through that but I have also had to put my stuff away or even just leave it because the kids were so terrible!

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~~Sonja~~

My 3lynns~ Ashlynn-8, Brooklyn-4 and Kaylin-3

Sorry you had to go through that, but good for you to not give in!

Been there, done that. You did the right thing.

I am so sorry you had to go through that!! I feel your pain!!! It can be so frustrating!!
My 2-1/2 year old has gone through some phases like that. I too have had to leave a cart full of groceries and head home. It is embaressing, but it is what we gatta do!

I'll bet some people "staring" were just feeling sorry, or have been there too.
I once had an older woman in the store tell me, "Sweaty, you will miss them so bad when they grow up and move out." I think she could see the stress in my face as I was trying to check out in the grocery line and my toddler kept screaming because he did not want to sit in the cart a moment longer.

I was mortified.
Ironic thing is if my mom had been with me she would have done whatever she could to let her have her own way - just to get her to stop!!

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Sometimes it is better to leave than to give in to them or torture other people with their behavior. Makes it rougher for you, but probably better in the long run. That's why I made most of my shopping trips after dh was home. Plus it gave me a small amount of time to enjoy alone, even if it was just in the grocery store.

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Good for you for not taking an easier way out. I know for some, especially people without cars, or anyone else to watch their kids, leaving the store and going home is not an option. But even then, you can at least leave the store until they calm down and try it again.
One thing I have seen others mention is to lay out the rules ahead of time, if you do this, than this is what will happen. Also, try to keep the trip as short as possible, they get tired of the store pretty fast when they are young. Our Meijers has the new tvcarts, which I know is probably not a good thing for some people, but since I don't take my toddler with me on every trip to the grocery store, I don't mind splurging on it when I do have to take her. I really feel for the moms who don't have the option of leaving the kids with dad(or some other sitter) at least once a month.
I think it is a good thing to take the kids to the store ocassionally, so they learn how to behave in public. But we still need that break ocassionally. And I really don't like to take her during one of my stock up trips. Even the tv cart doesn't entertain that long. And it doesn't fit a lot of groceries.

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I have nothing to declare except my genius."
- Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) upon arriving at U.S. customs 1882

Ah yes. Brings me back to the dark times. It gets better and the kids won't act that way on every trip. They were probably tired and cranky. I wouldn't have looked at you evil. I would have looked at you sympatheticly. I remember sometimes practically running through the store getting my things so I could get out quickly because the kids were melting down.

TV carts - I did not hear about this. Interesting idea

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