Skip to main content

Supermarket Tamasha

A trip to the supermarket before the kids came along was like retail therapy. I would browse at leisure, literally stopping to smell the flowers, at the flowers section of course! These days however the trip can best be described as a treasure hunt - a list, a mission and immense time constraints. Taking two young kids along with you just makes it all the more exciting…not!


Kids love going to supermarkets. Their senses are blown away by the colours as well as by the hustle bustle of people and trollies.  It’s a lot like Rajpal Yadav in one of his movies except that here my kids are actually running head on instead of standing quietly and staring in utter astonishment. 


Keeping an eye on the kids whilst shopping for essentials is multitasking at its best. Imagine You are running after a toddler and checking the sell by date on a milk bottle or opening a snack packet and reaching out for a carton of cereal. It truly is a test of balance, coordination and speed. 


I will let you in on a secret that I have learnt the hard way . If you want to avoid toddler tantrums and possible meltdowns in the middle of the supermarket, AVOID  two main aisles. Yes, grab a pen and make notes. This is important people! So, avoid the Confectionery aisle which holds in its sinful arms sweets and chocolates of every kind you can possibly imagine and the Toys aisle- this one I hope requires no explanation. A caveat here : toddlers are clever and they are quick. A deadly combination in supermarkets. However hard you try to avoid these aisles there will be times when you have to face the devil. I partly blame the supermarkets here. 


On a recent supermarket trip, I was in search of loo roll and was in a rush to get back home in time for Baby R’s nap time. I had Little R and Baby R with me at the time. The loo roll aisle was at the other end of the supermarket. Just as I was contemplating whether or not to trek across to the other side I saw that the loo roll was displayed on offer at the beginning of an aisle that wasn’t too far from us. I happily walked there with the Bacchus when to my utter horror I realised it was at the beginning of the Confectionery aisle. Little R was off like the wind even before I could blink. He started grabbing boxes of chocolates as if his life depended on it. Baby R wanted to join in the fun too so started screaming his head out to be set free from the pram. After much negotiation which included reducing the number of chocolate boxes from 6 to 1, I hurriedly left the supermarket, forgetting obviously the loo roll on offer. My Desi dil broke, it broke badly. A missed offer! Haaye! 


Speaking of toddler tantrums , beware of Gyaani Aunties who will inevitably be present when you are trying to deal with a toddler tantrum. They will mutter everything from “don’t have kids if you can’t control them “ (yes, the gall!) to “oh they will grow up soon so cherish these moments) (are you for real Aunty?!). Earlier I used to ignore their comments but now I politely ask them if I asked them for advice. That’s generally enough for them to chalte bano, free ka advice mat baato! 


An alternative to going to the supermarket is to get groceries delivered home. Although this is convenient, the kids go berserk seeing everything at once on the kitchen floor. So you can’t really win at this grocery game!


I can see some of you smirking thinking yeh toh first world problem hai. Haan hai. Please yaar don’t remind me of the Gyaani Aunties. I am just about braving myself for another supermarket trip with the littles. Bhajan ga lo koi meri safalta ke liye 🙏🏼🤗




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Comfort Food

Today, as I hurriedly grabbed the pot of plain yogurt from the fridge to scoop into my boys’ plates, I was reminded of an incident during my early days in the UK. Having recently arrived in the UK, I was wistfully in the quest for something that reminded me of home, of Mumbai. I distinctly remember that cold winter’s day in the year when the financial recession combined with thick inches of snow made for a grim state of mind. A mind like mine then wasn’t bereft of existential questions. And so, I braved the biting cold to step out into the freezing afternoon, dressed as a novice would – just a jacket, thin woollen gloves and an ill fitting cap.  I walked into the local supermarket as I often do when I am feeling a little glum. The general buzz of activity along with easily accessible food aid in calming my overactive thought processes. I sauntered into the dairy aisle without really meaning to as who in their right mind would consciously enter the cold storage area without having a...
Post a Comment
Read more

It’s Ok To Not Be Ok

Whilst the motherland struggles with the worst covid surge yet, I feel like a helpless outsider, constantly on edge, always worrying about my family and friends in India. The images flooding the news are heart wrenching to say the least. I recently read a poem by Meera Kandasamy and the line “my country is a crematorium” shook me because it couldn’t be further from the truth. As adults we are conditioned to say “I’m fine “, “I’m ok” when in reality we are not. The admission of not being ok is somehow equated to being weak and this unhealthy dialogue serves to damage our mental health. Also saying you are not ok makes the person who asked uncomfortable and we have learnt over the years to always try and steer clear of awkwardness. As moms we are expected to just get on with it and we do because many a times we don’t have a choice or we assume that we don’t. A lot depends on us doesn’t it? So how do we help ourselves in such distressing times? Here are a few things (for lack of a better ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Validating Vulnerability

Being strong and brave has always been admired whereas expressing any sort of vulnerability is looked down upon. When someone is articulating their feelings of vulnerability, our first response is to say “oh you are so brave” or “you are a fighter”. We say this perhaps with the intention of making the other person feel better. However by saying this what we are doing is that we are indirectly telling this other person that their feelings of vulnerability are in fact not valid because hey remember you’re strong right ?  We need to change the conversation here and it needs to happen now. The person who is accepting their vulnerability and speaking about it is in fact very strong. It takes a special kind of strength to be vulnerable. So yes they know they are strong. They didn’t ask for your validation about it . What they did ask was for you to acknowledge their feelings of vulnerability rather than trying to put a “positive spin” on everything. Because sometimes , it’s important to ...
Post a Comment
Read more