A Trip to the Grocery Store

"Mommy, can I have some orange juice"?  We don't have any, I have to go to the store.  "Mommy, can I have some yogurt?"  We don't have any, I have to go to the store.  "Mommy, can I have some toast?"  We don't have any, I have to go to the store.  It wasn't so much the repetitive phrases that kept bouncing back and forth but the look on my middle daughters face when I kept telling her we were out of things.  Especially her favorite things.  She just looked so sad.  Finally, I decided it was time to make a trip to the grocery store.  As I looked back in the checkbook, I realized I had not been to the store to do stock up shopping since the end of May.  I went to the store for milk, bananas, and bread here or there, but I didn't realize how much stuff we were actually out of.

I always loved grocery shopping!  When I was a kid it was fun to go with mom and help put things in the cart.  It was even extra special when you asked for that certain box of cereal with the cool toy in it and mom finally said she would buy it.  As I got older, mom would ask that I do the shopping.  One of my favorite places to go was Aldi's.  I knew that we would need 2 carts (shopping for 6 immediate family members, 2 boyfriends, a girlfriend, and a Granny adds up to 2 carts) .  I knew exactly where everything was located.  I could whip through that store, buy $100 worth of food and be out of there in record time.  Back in the day, a $100 worth of food from Aldi's was like finding a gold mine.  Fast forward a few years, now I'm married and I'm shopping for only 2 rather than the above mentioned 10.  The first time my husband and I went shopping we took my Granny along.  As we walk into the store I ask him if he has money.  He says he has about $15.00.  Granny and I just look at each other and start laughing.  We just moved into our apartment and the refrigerator and pantry (which I miss terribly) were bare.  Thanks to the help of Granny paying the difference we did purchase some things to get us by until pay day.

Fast forward 10 more years and I'm back to buying for 5 (plus a cat).  The difference between shopping now compared to shopping back then makes me not really like going to the grocery store anymore.  The prices of things are outrageous!  It amazes me how expensive it is to make sure our family has something to eat.  The other problem that infuriates me is the fact that the prices keep going up but the products keeps getting smaller and smaller.  Potato chips used to be a pretty good size, I opened a bag the other day and they are now about the size of a quarter.  I bought the girls a treat, Chips Ahoy Cookies, when I opened the bag the cookies were so small they dropped right into my cup of milk.  I remember when I used to have to take a bite out of the cookie so I could make it smaller to dip in my milk.  And yes, I was using the same cup both times.  I have a hard time getting rid of things.  The same is true for peanut butter, ice cream, salad dressing, and more.  It is even more frustrating if you are trying to eat healthy.  It is all over the news, in magazines, and books that this is the fattest our nation has ever been.  In some states, it is considered child abuse if your child is labeled as obese.  Yet, the prices of good healthy food (fruits, veggies, multi-grain breads/noodles, meat/dairy without preservatives or antibiotics) are even more expensive than the not so healthy food.  I know it all comes down to big corporations and the government (which I really don't want to get into) causing most of the price increases.  It's just very disappointing that this mommy of 3 has to decide whether to spend the extra money on healthy food and not pay something else or give them the unhealthy food because it's cheaper and we can have electricity.

Maybe someday soon, something will change.  Either the prices will start falling or maybe we will all get gigantic raises.  Until then, I will do the best I can for my family with what I have.  I guess I can say that grocery shopping still gets me a wee bit excited. It's one of the only times I have to myself.