The Very Best Grocery Shopper
"Mom, you know what?" piped up my first grader from the back of the minivan. He was eating cereal from a cup on the way to school because he'd overslept and hadn't had time for breakfast at home.
"What buddy?" I replied automatically, only half-listening as I ran through the checklist of what I needed to get done after school drop-off.
"You are the VERY BEST grocery shopper!" he proclaimed.
"Oh yeah?" I asked, a little surprised. "Why do you say that?" I thought, perhaps, the unexpected treat of the Jurassic themed Trix Trax cereal in his cup prompted this enthusiasm for my grocery shopping. I'd bought it in a moment of weakness at Target the night before—my third grader had begged and begged, finally winning me over with, "It has Box Tops, mom! You can help my school!"
Surely, the surprise of an extra-sugary dinosaur cereal was the reason he was praising my grocery shopping skills. Grocery shopping is one of my least favorite tasks, something I dread (though the advent of online grocery shopping has made my life significantly easier). I'm always forgetting to add something to the grocery list and not realizing until I've already started making dinner that an ingredient is missing. I know that grocery shopping is a key element of making sure our house runs smoothly, but it isn't something that brings me joy. So why was my child awarding me the honor of the very best grocery shopper?
"When the food is empty, you make sure we always have new food," he said, in a tone of voice that insinuated a little "duh" at the end.
So simple, I thought, feeling a little stunned. This kid is the one I have the hardest time feeding, the one most likely to complain about what I make for dinner or how I pack his lunch. He's the one who struggled to gain weight as an infant, who I forced to drink bottle after bottle of Pediasure, who is most likely to be unimpressed when I try to be Fun Creative Mom and make themed snacks. He's the one I would think least likely to praise my grocery shopping skills.
But he's got one thing right: I might dread it and I certainly grumble about it at times, but I do always make sure we have food in the house. And to him, that makes me the Very Best Grocery Shopper.
I'm still waiting on the official award (I hear it's a golden grocery bag), but being named Very Best Grocery Shopper by my picky kid—that's pretty special, golden grocery bag or no.