Thank You Whole Foods.

Lately taking the little man anywhere has been very difficult, to say the least. Let me rephrase, taking the little man anywhere in public where he can't scream, run, kick, bite, throw himself on the ground while screaming, kicking, biting, has been very very very difficult. Yes, people my little man is not only 2, but he is smack in the middle of his terrible, terrible, oh my god I need a Xanax terrible twos.

That being said the grocery store has been real source of anxiety for me/him/everyone who could possibly be at the store between 5-6pm. We live about 2 blocks from one of the largest and best Whole Foods in town which means two things. 1) I like to go every day so we can get things fresh, and I find that little or no food goes to waste this way, and 2) everyone else within a two mile radius has the same idea so the store can be very, very, VERY crowded.

Sometimes we go and my little guy is a saint. Other times I am fully convinced that he truly is possessed by the devil himself. That was until I found the secret to a happy shopping trip. Since then we have had 5 (yes, 5) consecutive amazing grocery trips where instead of leaving with tears in our eyes (usually mine) we now leave with a smile on both of our faces. In fact, the little man now thinks it is a "treat" to get to go to the store. Hey kid, whatever works!

What made the change? The smallest thing you could imagine. Our local Whole Foods purchased 3 baby carts. I know, those of you out there without kids are thinking big deal right? Well let me tell you, there is nothing more a kid likes than 1)pushing something, and 2) feeling like they are helping. This little cart does both at the same time. Seriously, the other day we walked up and down the aisles for over an hour! When I finally was able to coax him to the checkout line with a free cookie (yep, they give you those too) he unloaded the entire cart himself, and was over the moon when they gave him stickers for helping his mom.

God bless Whole Foods, and God bless child labor (I kid about the latter.) It really is amazing how something so small can make such a big difference. On the other hand maybe they just got tired of hearing all the screaming children in the check out line. Either way I love it.

So thank you Whole Foods! When it starts to snow and you see us in your store 5 times a day please just ignore us, my kid just thinks you're the new Disneyland.