WHAT WORKED FOR US - MOMMY DOLLARS

I used to love grocery day when my kids were little. Really, I did. They always behaved well, and it was a couple of hours out of the house. And I had to get out of the house each day when the kids were little.

Also, when we got home, I made a game out of putting groceries away. I divided the counter top into 3 sections and said "Freezer things here. Pantry things here. Refrigerator things here." And they'd sort the groceries for me so I could put them away.

But as they got a little older - like early elementary school - trips to the grocery store took a little different turn, because I spent the entire time saying NO.

Mommy, can we buy orange soda?

No.

Mommy, can we buy Fruity Pebbles?

No.

Mommy, can we buy strawberry milk?

No.

Mommy, can we buy strawberry syrup to put in our white milk?

No.

Mommy, can we buy oreos.

Absolutely. Make it two.

No no no no no. It seemed that's all I ever said; and I'm sure it seemed to them that's all they ever heard.

So I decided to give the kids a little control over our shopping trips; and I invented the Mommy Dollar.

I made little construction paper dollars and gave each child two Mommy Dollars each time we went to the store. For each Mommy Dollar, they got to choose one item to put into the cart. When they put it in the cart, they handed me a mommy dollar.

With Mommy Dollars, if they asked for something I would simply say "if you want to use a Mommy Dollar on it."

Of course there were some rules for using Mommy Dollars:

-A Mommy Dollar was not equal to one actual dollar. The item could cost a little more, or less.

-They could not pick toys.

-I had to approve the item.

They usually picked things like a box of pop tarts that we wouldn't normally buy, a six pack of pudding cups, a bag of chips, occasionally a bottle of soda - things that would not normally go in our cart but I didn't mind if they had occasionally. Sometimes Blake would choose a six pack of IBC root beer, which would usually cost him both of his Mommy Dollars. And sometimes, I'd reward the kids with an extra Mommy Dollar. If they'd been exceptionally good while daddy was gone I'd say "you guys are getting THREE Mommy Dollars at the store today!"

Mommy Dollars worked beautifully for us. We did the Mommy Dollar thing for quite a while - up until they stopped going to the store with me; except when the kids got older, I think we called them Mom Bucks. Mommy Dollars took the negativity out of the shopping trip for me. They allowed me to stop playing the bad guy who always said no; and they made the kids aware of what went in our cart. They made the kids really think before they chose something because they knew their "dollars" were limited.

Now when I go to the store I say "I'm going to the store tomorrow. If you have any requests, write them down."

Blake's list usually looks something like this:

Full Throttle
Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Ice Cream
Donuts
Eggos
Oatmeal Cream Pies

And I usually say "Um, Blake? You might get one of these items, if you're lucky."

Kayla's list might look something like this:

Ice Cream
Broccoli
Ranch Dressing
Gala Apples
Yogurt
Microwave Popcorn
Fruit Chews

And I will say "Ok, you can share ice cream with Blake, and the rest looks pretty good."

And of course, asking my kids to come to the store with me now is like inviting them to their own execution. It's not gonna happen, people.

But I still get the last laugh because I leave all the heavy stuff in the car for them to carry in.