500 Fridays Newsletter - 3 min read Season: The Cold Days (9 of 12)

The Cartwheel Story

Today, it is a rare sight to see a mom shopping with all of her kids hanging off the grocery cart. It doesn't happen as often today as it used to thanks to Walmart Grocery Pickup.

Now, moms have been taking their kids to buy groceries forever, but some shopping sessions truly stand out. We have a family story from when our kids were 3, 6, and 7 that took the prize for us.

A little background on the kinds of monsters our kids were when they were early in the power-decade.

I used to take my kids to Lowe's for weekend project supplies and their eyes would light up. "Dad, we love going to Lowe's! We're gonna go crazy! The store has extra huge aisles and they have big boxes we can climb all over!"

You know your kids are next level when they pre-plan their terror.

Back to my wife and kids at the grocery store one afternoon. On this particular store run, my kids were giving my wife all she could handle. Not the whining, crying kind of meltdown that can happen.

No, this was the hyperactive, running wild, you kids get back over here right now, kind of craziness. She made her way, back and forth through the aisles. My kids no doubt begged for anything eye-level that looked good to be added to the basket.

Then the cartwheels started.

In our home, we refer to this as the cartwheel story because my kids decided to have their own gymnastics competition up and down the aisles. Who knows how many boxes of cereal were kicked over.

After filling up the cart, my wife came face-to-face with a mom's worst nightmare at the end of the grocery shopping, the checkout line. It was time to stand compressed together in a 10ft line and somehow put an end to the cartwheel competition.

After numerous failed attempts, she pushed the full shopping cart through the checkout counter, told a Walmart clerk she was leaving, and walked out to the car. Once everyone was buckled, she called me with instructions.

"If you want to eat this week, I need you to go by Walmart on your way home, buy our groceries, and then come home to make dinner."

I'm pretty sure she hung up immediately after that. I drove to the store, grabbed our groceries, and prepared some long-forgotten speech to give my kids when I arrived home.

That is the Robinson family's Cartwheel Story.

We all laugh when we retell it now, but that day, it wasn't funny at all. How often do you feel like you have those moments in your stage of parenting today?

I share all this because you WILL have your cartwheel chaos and abandon your cart moments. So, when you have one of those days, or possibly weeks ... here is what we learned that might be worth practicing.

Lesson 1: Ask For Help

• There are no medals given for doing it all yourself. Whenever you reach a breaking point, or preferably before, ask for help.
• Allowing a spouse, neighbor, friend, or family member to back you up is always a good decision.

Lesson 2: Cut Your Losses

• The abandoned cart moment is humbling, no doubt. Cutting your losses means accepting that something isn't working or is headed in a worse direction. Sometimes as a parent, this is by far your best choice.
• Making a family decision to quit a team or walk out of a restaurant can be better than the alternative of seeing it through.

Lesson 3: Laugh It Off (Eventually)

• Sometimes, retelling a story removes the sting and starts the repair. Getting some distance from the abandoned cart moment always helps.
• Friendships that allow you to share the chaos of raising kids are valuable and dinners, where crazy kid stories are told, can be great.

Lesson 4: Show Others Grace

• There are moms in the grocery store who are barely hanging on. There are dads driving to practice who are white-knuckling the wheel.
• When you have a moment to show grace to those who are about to abandon the cart, step in. Whether it's in your own home or not.

See You Next Friday,
Finley

500 Fridays ... book coming soon ​ Stories & Strategies To Help Parents of 3-13 Year Olds Make A Decade Count