Clean up in aisle 3, 4, 7...9...

Saturday evening, we went to the grocery store after church. This is probably the first and only time I'll say this, but I'm SO HAPPY the Vikings were playing. Because of this preseason game (which I can't figure out why everyone was so jazzed that they won...they played the Rams! They could have been playing a high school team with similar results....) Anyway, I digress...Because of this preseason game, the store was empty. This saved so many shoppers from undue pain and suffering at the hands/cart of Ella.

As we got out of the car, I noticed one of those child-sized carts in the cart return. It had a cute little flag rising above it that said "Customer in Training" and I figured it would be so much fun for Ella to push it around. She'd just love it, I would have loved that as a child! Plus, since we were all shopping, one of us could focus on actual grocery shopping and one of us could perform Ella control. 

I got Ella control. I think I have blisters on my hands from trying to steer the cart with a death grip on the flag. Ella loved the cart. She loved holding the cart handle, putting her head down to stare at her feet and then charging forward blindly wherever her sandaled feet would take her. Usually full speed into some sort of display, or narrowly missing someone's shins.  And truly, I was on her like a bee at a picnic, I wasn't letting her just cruise freely without a care.

At one point, she nearly took out an entire row of pickles and an end of the aisle display of creamed corn.

She really like going up to the other shoppers to say "hello!" My favorite was when she approached an older gentleman who was caring a basket. Ella went right up to him in the cereal aisle and said, "Oh! Heeelllooo!" and then proceeded to rummage through his basket in search of goodies. Clearly, she doesn't understand the social norms involved with shopping. One being, we don't shop from other's carts.

I enjoy the Free Range Kids movement and book. But, I think at this juncture, that was just a little too free range. We'll go back to utilizing the seat in the big cart for awhile.