by Cassidy Nunn | photo by Nunn Other Photography –
Finding time to connect with friends, especially while raising young kids, can be challenging. There is juggling nap schedules and jobs to the kids’ classes and your own activities (if you’re even able to find the time and energy to add those to your life!). Then there’s the fact that by the end of the day you’re often too tired to string two coherent sentences together that really, an evening with friends doesn’t even make sense. There’s a strong chance you’ll all be yawning too much or on the verge of falling asleep to make it worth the time and effort.
I’ve heard before of friends who are parents going on “errand dates” – basically hanging out and catching up while also running normal life errands such as grocery shopping together. This past week I experienced my first such date.
My friend and I realized we’d both planned that week to go on a shopping trip to a large wholesale store which is a half hour’s drive from both of our homes. For me it always feels like a mission to make it there, do a big shop with the kids, drive home and unpack all the groceries before my youngest daughter needs to go down for a nap. Having two kids in tow and my older daughter now outgrown the wonderful stage of being able to sit in the shopping cart alongside her sister makes the physical navigating of the store even more of a challenge! So my friend and I decided to do the shopping trip together and it felt like a stroke of genius. Why had we never done this before?!
She brought her three-month-old along and, with the three kiddos all safely strapped into their car seats in the back of my vehicle, we set off feeling pretty pleased with ourselves. The only thing missing was coffee. We weighed our options of stopping for one – do we caffeinate, but risk waking the sleeping infant? We decided it wasn’t worth it. My friend and I had time to chat while Raffi’s music played in the background, keeping the kids happy (there was still the occasional interruption from the back seat but by some miracle the baby slept the entire drive).
Once at our destination we each grabbed a shopping cart. My friend tucked her sleeping little one into her baby carrier, I strapped my 17-month-old daughter into the front of the cart and my four-and-a-half year old “helped” guide it by pulling from the front. My friend and I chatted recipes and nutrition while slowly making our way down the aisles. We swapped off standing guard with the grocery carts and kids while the other ran back to grab a forgotten item. With my free hands I was able to help her load heavier items that she otherwise couldn’t have done with an infant strapped to her chest.
By the time we reached the checkout, my friend and I made the rookie move of separating and choosing different lines which we immediately regretted. My toddler had reached her shopping cart limit and demanded out by screaming. I bounced her on my hip while my elder daughter enthusiastically helped place the groceries on the conveyor belt, her game being to do it as fast as possible, while my game became to snatch any glass or breakable items before she did. An employee took pity on us – (or perhaps was just tired of hearing my toddler’s wails and wanted to hustle us out of there – either way, their help was much appreciated!) and came to my rescue to unload the final few items.
Reunited in the parking lot, we vowed to never choose separate lines again and with our team effort we loaded the back of my vehicle as if playing a game of grocery Tetris. One of us stayed with the kids while the other returned the carts. Our errand mission was accomplished; we’d had some time to catch up and the whole experience was actually rather pleasant. We all but high-fived as we buckled up, began our journey home, and began to plan our next errand date.
