Wednesday, November 10, 2010

At the grocery store -- Chapter 5

When Susie's mother took her girls shopping at the grocery store, sometimes she would let them have a special treat.  When they first went into the store, Mother would give them each a box of animal crackers to hold while they were in the store.  The little red box decorated like a circus train car would hold their fancy so Mother could do her shopping in peace.  Of course, Susie and her sisters were only allowed to keep the box of crackers to eat if they were good in the store.  One can only imagine how devastating it would be to have your crackers put back on the shelf when your sisters were allowed to keep theirs.  Susie greatly treasured holding her own little box of animal crackers.  She loved how it rattled with the promise of the menagerie of animals it held inside.  She was always sure to be good and helpful to Mother so that that little box of crackers was hers to keep!  And then! How fun to open the little red box and discover the assortment you had!  You could trade your elephants for your sister's lions, if you wished (lions are the best, of course).



Susie must have learned loads about taking your children grocery shopping, for when she grew up and became a mother, she always took her children along with her.  From a young age, they were given tasks in the store to help with, and by the time they were in late elementary school, they could divide up her list, and take 3 separate carts around the store to cut the shopping trip down by quite a bit!  Sue always took the produce and dairy sections, her son Nathan took the frozen, and Gretchen and Anna went together through the grocery sections.  They had seen their mother choose sizes and brands so often, that they knew just what she would want them to get!  And instead of animal crackers, they liked to choose Hostess fruit pies -- chocolate for Nathan, cherry for Gretchen and lemon for Anna.  And they liked those just as much as Susie liked her animal crackers.




 

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Loved going to the grocery store with Mom! I remember it costing SO much! :) lol....I also remember mom would fill out her list in sections.. I never do that, but probably should! I also remember mom letting us pick out candy bars if they were 3 for 99 cents. ! The pies were the ultimate though, and if we were lucky enough for them to have lemon, cherry AND chocolate!? It was a happy day! :)

Anna

Rachel said...

What a great idea! I think it's awesome that your mom taught you to grocery shop at such a young age.

Karen said...

Oh, what a wonderful story!! That Sue was something very special. Aren't you glad she remembered her mother's system at the store? Loved it.

Anonymous said...

Grocery stores been very very good to us. Great story Gret.....DAD

Anonymous said...

I use to LOVE those little red boxes of animal crackers with the handle, they were the best! What a great idea to keep those kids in line. Wish I had thought of that!

Emma said...

I love grocery stores! Grocery shopping is great too, if I'm not like utterly exhausted. :) I remember mom doing that animal cracker thing a couple of times with Abby and I, but mostly we picked those yummy dried fruit roll-ups. :)
I wish I would have paid more attention at the grocery store...I struggle with produce big time..

Unknown said...

The animal crackers are a great idea! I will have to use that one with my little ones!

denise said...

i love following the generations in your posts and then enjoy your family's comments afterward...great descriptors of the anticipation of animal crackers...i try similar tactics shopping...i likethe dividing up tasks idea...

enjoying the journey with you...

denise in group 3