A couple of weeks ago we had my fantastic sister-in-law and her family in town (including her two littles). Her husband is super handy and is always kind enough to help us with projects that require two burly handymen. Since they were in town, we obviously ended up at Lowes getting ‘new house’ stuff. The kids (8 & 4) are so wonderful and were coming with us, albeit semi-reluctantly.
My sister & I put our heads together and came up with the Team Lowes Hunt, which is basically an Easter Egg hunt in Lowes. It worked like a charm at keeping my niece and nephew occupied (and out of trouble), while we were able to get stuff on our half of the list (while the husbands did the other part). A nice thing about the Team Lowes Hunt is that you can make a copy of it and customize the ‘finding’ list to reflect some of the things that you need to buy- so as you get your shopping done, you get to play a game with the kids.
The Team aspect was especially important for two reasons: 1) the 4 year old doesn’t read yet, so he needed some help and 2) you likely don’t want your kids running all over the store unescorted- so doing it as a team was the winning combination of fun and sanity.
Before we left the house, we printed two copies of the lists (one for each) and brought 2 crayons for them to check things off with. Once we got to the store, we had a conversation about the rules (work together, take turns, be kind, stay with us, etc.). It probably took us 45 minutes to complete the list, but we got all of the things we needed and there was zero complaints, and zero requests for candy and other treats- so it seemed like a success. You could try it with your littles the next time you head out!
Chasing This Dream 