Diatribe on the Local Grocery Store

I usually enjoy my weekly grocery shopping. I buy lots of fresh fruits and veggies. I have a new selection of snacks. And it gives me a chance to spend money! I love spending money, but as a SAHM I don’t have much, if any, frivolous money to spend so any chance I have to swipe a card I enjoy.

This morning I made a list (no small feat when you are fighting off a baby who wants to do everything you are doing). We went to our local grocery store (not Walmart) and had a lovely time strolling up and down the aisles.

While going through the store I passed a store manager several times who was congratulating each employee on the previous month’s numbers being so great. I flashed back to the several jobs I’ve had and how important numbers seem to be to management. 

My father has been a manager for as long as I can remember, so I know how stressful it can be when the numbers are not where they should be. At the time I was impressed at the manager for what he was doing.

Then I got to the checkout and my opinion of their numbers changed. I had done some WIC shopping so I stood in line at the only cashier. All self-checkout terminals were open and normally I would willingly go through self-checkout. But I knew I needed an actual clerk and was waiting patiently.

Out of nowhere this little 18 year old cashier turns up, grabs my cart (and baby) away from me and pulls it over to the self-checkout. I tried to protest, but she wasn’t listening. Just before she started ringing up my items I inform her that I have some WIC checks.

She looked at me like I had lost my mind and said rather annoyed, “I can’t do WIC at self-checkout. You need to go through the regular lines for that.”

Before I could say anything she was pushing my cart (and baby) and heads back to the “regular” checkout lines. I’m doing my best to not roll my eyes at her and to bite my tongue to keep from saying “I was in the regular checkout line!”

She was considerate in that she didn’t make me go stand back in line, she called up another cashier to open a line just for me. As soon as my cart was unloaded they closed the line again to the dismay of the three people standing in the other checkout line.

This new cashier was very efficient, although not good and making conversation.

Cashier, “Asparagus, huh?”

Me, “Yes.”

“Zucchini, huh?”

“Yes.”

“Mushrooms, huh?”

This continued through my entire basket. “Eggs, huh? Soy milk, huh? Pumpkin puree, huh? Chicken, huh?”

I know from past experience that cashiers are encourage to smile and talk to customers. But this was just ridiculous. I neither wanted nor felt compelled to explain the contents of my shopping basket. I appreciated the fact they were trying to help me checkout faster, but I don’t think they went about it in the best way. They were more concerned about keeping their numbers low and following the “rules” than they were about my needs as a customer.

My mother used to be a loyal customer at this particular grocery chain until they started focusing more on their numbers than their customers. She prefers to use a regular cashier run checkout line than the self-checkout. However the store really pushed their self-checkouts. It became very frustrating to her because she had a lot of groceries and wanted help checking out and bagging, but they wanted her to do it all herself. She wrote a letter to the company headquarters complaining about their lack of customer service and received a form letter in return congratulating themselves on the speed and efficiency of their self-checkout systems. 

That was the straw that broke the camel’s back for her. After a lifetime of devotion to that chain, she left it in favor of the more customer friendly Walmart.

Even knowing of her struggle, I continued to shop at this chain because they offered a better selection of products, fresher produce, and they offer free fresh fruit as children snacks. It’s closer and slightly less expensive than the local Walmart. However, I have experienced firsthand how little they care for their customers and how important their numbers have become.

 
As a customer I say, take a chill pill! I know when self-checkout is needed and when it is not. Forcing me to go to three different terminals before helping me and refusing to listen when I protest these moves is NOT good customer service. I’m not ready to leave them for Walmart yet, but if this treatment continues I may follow in my mother’s footsteps.

My baby is 1 year old!

J turned one last Monday and this week has been full of milestones for him. On his birthday he took his first step! It was very exciting as every parent can attest.

We moved him into his own room. He loves that all of his toys are in the same place, but is still unsure about sleeping so far away from Mama and Dada.

When moving the crib I had to take it apart in order to fit it through the doors. As I was putting it back together in J’s new room he got really excited that he could crawl in and out by himself (only 3 of the 4 sides were together). So I figured out how to assemble it for the toddler bed and instead of placing the mattress on the springs a foot off the ground, I just placed the mattress on the ground. J got even more excited and instantly began bouncing around.

Not being in a crib is great for him in the mornings because he can get up and play without waking Dada or Mama at 6 a.m., but horrible when he doesn’t want to go to sleep at night or during nap time. Today I was so frustrated that he wouldn’t stay in bed long enough to nap I set up his portable crib and had him nap in there. He fell asleep almost immediately.

J has also started picking up a few cute habits that we didn’t expect. At lunch today, M was eating some French fries and J LOVES anything potato (just like Dada). M picked one up for him and blew on it to make sure it wouldn’t burn him and handed it to him. Then J tried to blow on the fry before shoving it in his mouth! M and I got a good laugh at that.

I will post more soon.

Harry Potter Murder Mystery Party

Last Friday I hosted a murder mystery party that was Harry Potter themed. Everyone agreed that it was fantastic!

A few months ago I had run across a murder mystery game at a local thrift store. M and I invited a few friends over and had a blast solving the murder. I became hooked on the idea of hosting themed parties, mainly murder mystery parties. I immediately began searching for other themes and mysteries that I could host.

That is when I came across the Harry Potter Mystery by justsweetandsimple.blogspot.com. It was written by the blog's owner, so it had a few flaws, but it was fun and family friendly. I went crazy with decorations and planning.

The first thing I did was choose my guest list. This game had 12 suspects and well as a host (who already knew the results) and a helper. I made sure everyone I invited was able to attend before I made character assignments (randomly assigned). Even with the precautions, two guests couldn't come because of illness.

The script is written so the guest move from one place to another. I thought it made the experience more fun, although it also required more decorations. I had the guests start in the backyard in Diagon Alley. I set up a few "stores" where they could choose a wand, a quill, and receive their first character information as an interdepartmental memo.

From there we traveled through Platform 9 3/4 into the house. In the dinning room I had a table set up for the dinner, as well as house banners on the ceiling and windows and a "potion's cupboard" in my china cabinet. In the living room M helped me created 35 floating candles. On the walls were school proclamations and Wanted Wizard posters with funny pictures of my guests on them.

I made a generic colored banner so I could use it again.

Living Room Decorations.

Wanted posters framing a "Free the House Elves" donation center.

I printed so many different things I ended up having to replace the printer ink, twice. It was worth it though. 

For the dinner portion, I found so many fun things to do there was no way I could do it by myself. I am lucky enough that my guests always offer to help, so I decided what would be fun to have and assigned a dish to each guest. We had plenty to go around, an oddly, no leftovers!

I assigned myself the Chocolate Frogs. I bought a mold online and used 64 oz. of chocolate in order to make enough for everyone. I got creative with my candy making and placed different candies inside each of the frogs. I used Jelly Belly beans, Smarties (which people didn't like), Lemon sandwich cookies, massacred Peeps, and M&Ms.

Don't they look so Yummy!

I won't spoil the mystery for you, but we all had a great time.

The Struggle is Real

I just realized that today is actually Christ’s Birthday. I believe that fact was reviled through revelation, or maybe it was just by historical research. Anyway, MERRY CHRISTMAS! May the Spirit of Christ bless you and your families all year!

I was going through my morning routine with baby J and was getting a little frazzled with the extra things I have taken on this week. I have been planning a Harry Potter Murder Mystery Dinner for about a month and have gone crazy making things so it will be totally epic. It’s only a few days away and I’ve already started decorating the house.

I turned on one of J’s favorite shows and let him have free reign of the main living area while I worked. But as it so often happens, J needed a diaper change. I pressed pause on the TV, and carried J off to the bathroom for a change, bath, and then put him down for a morning nap. If you’ve ever taken care a baby, you will understand just how much work is involved.

J twisted and turned while I struggled to clean up his poopy bum. In the bath he got bubbles on his nose and mouth which caused him to panic. He began thrashing around, creating more bubbles and causing him to slip into the water twice. (Before you think I’m negligent, this all happened in a matter of 1 second.) I pulled him out and wiped his face. After another struggled to dry him off, diaper and clothe him while he again wiggled and squirmed, I finally put him in his crib for a nap.

While the proceeding process only took 20 minutes, it was an exhausting 20 minutes. I trudged back into the living room, grumbling about how difficult J can be at times. Why was he so difficult? Why does he fight me on every step?

I sat down on the couch and looked at the TV. Still on the screen was J’s show, paused with the closed captioning on. It was a picture of a fish who was saying, “I could have done that if I wasn’t stuck.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “No, little fish,” I said to the screen. “You may be able to keep his attention once in a while, but somethings just need to be done by Mommy.”

That one instance changed my entire attitude. I have chosen to be a Mother and a stay at home mom (SAHM). Sure, I could get a job and put J in daycare but that is not what I want for my family. It may be difficult and he will continue to fight me for the next 17 years. I will love him the entire time and continue to fight for his best interest.