Little Gray House: cracker jack

Over the past thirteen years, grocery shopping has gone through many phases and many challenges.

Shopping with an infant proved to be very stressful. Just as I finished my sprint through the grocery store, I would be faced with a wailing, hungry child. The prospect of feeding a tiny child in the grocery store was daunting, especially coupled with the fact that this hungry babe would soon be a very poopy babe and that would require a diaper change and probably, a clothing change. So, more often than not, I left my grocery cart and returned at a later time to pick up my goods.

As I gained more children and more experience, there were new challenges associated with the grocery store. I learned to starve my toddler before shopping so that the entire time in the store could be spent with little finger foods to pacify them. I learned to carry a baby, breastfeed, talk to a toddler, pick out food, and pull a shopping cart simeotaneously.

Then came the phase when the boys learned that they had some control over what went into the cart and that whatever went in the bags went back to our home and into their mouths. I can't say that we have ever had food-related tantrums in the store, but we definitely have had many discussions relating to what we need and what are luxury items. Granted, there is absolutely nothing wrong with luxury or convenience items. Sometimes one just has to have a pack of Oreos or the occasional can of Spaghetti-O's. I get that. What has been a lifelong lesson for me as well as the boys is the fact that we have a set amount of money alloted to groceries each week. If we buy all convenience foods, we will have no money left for the bulk of the food that we eat. Fun foods disappear within a day or two. After that, what is left?

Enter, the Great Grocery Experiment!

Yesterday morning, the boys and I were going through local ads to get our list together for grocery shopping at Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart price matches any local competitor's price as long as you bring in the ad. For example, if Kroger has milk for 88 cents, when we get to the register, we just say, "I'd like to price match this milk for 88 cents." Done. It's quite cool, actually, and it allows us to get all the big deals without going to Kroger, Meijer, and Wal-Mart.

As we were going through the ads, the boy were circling everything that they were interested in: Doritos, Pop Tarts, Lunchables, Pepsi. As we began to narrow the list down, I had an idea and that idea became the basis for the Great Grocery Experiment.

Our grocery budget is $150 per week. There are five in our family, so that is $30 per person per week, or, rounded up, $5.00 a day. I challenged the boys to make out their own menu and feed themselves exclusively on the food that they could buy with $15 for three days. I knew there would be junk food and soda pop, but I was curious to see what would transpire.

Each boy spent time preparing a list and researching prices before we left. They had mixed feelings. Jonah was stoked and definitely did the most research. Gable was apprehensive, afraid that he would run out of food and starve. I assured him that he did not have to do the challenge, but if he did, over the three day period, I would not let him starve, but I would let him feel hungry. Jack was just excited and as any seven year old would be and did little planning or research. (He did, however, ask if he could buy only ramen noodles for three days and spend the rest on a Lego set.)

Although I really wanted (and I mean really wanted) to give them pointers and warnings, I also knew that in order for any of us to gain knowledge as well as enjoy the challenge, I needed to let them be. Be 13, be 10, and be 7...with $15 in their pockets! I wanted them to buy all junk food or all name-brands or all soda pop. I just wanted to have a little fun with it and see what happened.

Gable was definitely the most cautious at the store. He also is the one who spent the least. I think he has $1.50 left.

For his three days worth of food, he chose two instant lunch cups, three bags of Ramen noodles, a box of Cheez-Its, eight cans of Pepsi, one can of Skyline, one box of spaghetti, two cans of tuna, one can of Ravioli, one pizza lunchable, one half gallon of chocolate milk, and one half gallon of orange juice. A 10-year old's dream, a mother who worries a bit too much about healthy eating and healthy teeth's worst nightmare.

Jonah, as expected, is probably going to have the most satisfying meals over the course of three days. He bought pizza rolls, Doritos, a pound of bacon, a dozen eggs, pop, milk, five oranges, a box of macaroni and cheese, a loaf of bread, and two boxes of instant noodles. He's already had offers for trades, but the deal was clear: Whoever accepts the $15 accepts the full challenge rules of eating exclusively what they purchased. Water and salt and pepper are freebies from mom and dad. Also, they are permitted to purchase small quantities of butter or condiments, so they each saved some money for those purchases.

This is where I lost it. Look at this face. Look at his satisfaction. Look at a seven year old with $15 in his pocket...

Seriously, when Jack brought this big box of chips to me, I laughed so hard in the cereal aisle that I snorted. Several times. This stupid box was $10! Do you know how hard it was to let him buy this? But a challenge is a challenge. I did ask him what he planned to eat for breakfast. He said chips. I asked about dinner. He said chips. Lunch? You get the drift. All in all, Jack ended up with 36 bags of chips..., a dozen eggs, milk, Dr. Pepper, and vanilla wafers. And for dinner last night? He put five bags of chips on a plate and drank out of the Dr. Pepper bottle.

I simply cannot stop chuckling at all this.

One thing is for sure...this is going to be a really interesting three day challenge!

Jack and I were at his 'camp' in the woods picking up sticks to make the roof. He made sure that I knew that there were no snakes in his camp. Then he asked if I had ever touched a snake thinking that it was a stick.

me: Yeah, I have! One time I was throwing sticks at my sister's window because she wouldn't let me come play with her and her friend. The third stick I picked up moved!

Jack: (eyes big) What did you do with it? Did you throw it?

me: I winged it somewhere, I don't know where, but I ran and screamed bloody murder!

Jack: Does that mean that you screamed (demonstrates) 'BLOO-DY MUR-DER! BLOO-DY MUR-DER!'

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There is a line in a song that we listen to that says, "And I guess it's in a mother to inject a little guilt."

I heard Jack singing it the other day, "And I guess it's like a mother to eject a little girl."

I guess that if anyone is going to actually 'eject' a little girl, it would have to be a mother...

maybe?

Happy Friday!