tell me how your dcs act when you take them shopping

[grumpypants]

because altho we don't do it as a past time, sometimes it's inevitable that we have to take them (shoe shopping/ dh away and need food) and it seems that there is a limit on good behaviour, and when it runs out, they start hiding in clothes rails, wandering along following the floor patterns and crashing into people, playing chase etc etc which I find excrutiatingly embarassing (mine are all ds, age 2, 5 and 7)One to one they are fine and engaged, but they just can't walk along quietly...

suspect double buggy would be turned into mini sledge! Bribe good - they are all into Pokemon balls at the moment - glad I'm not alone.

OMG! I say that all the time! Or those leads people use for multiple dogs...

at choke chains! my dd is ok if I pile her with lots of food, I try to get the shopping done as quick as I can before her supply runs out. Luckily (or not depending on what way you see it) she also has a shoe fetish and loves dressing up so this makes clothes shopping for her very easy.

Mine are very good at : spending their birthday money. After that, it's down to cajoling, chatting, bribing to get them to stay still! Shoe shopping is difficult with more than one, as they insist on measuring their own feet, and pretending the little stools are horses!

Annoying!

Terrible! I've only got DS and I still dread it. The thought of going with three DS' is quite horrific!

I'd second doing food shopping online if possible, its fantastic.

I have two DS's aged 2 and 3 and they can get nightmareish too. I try and get them to stay in the buggy but that rarely works tbh.

Failing that I try bribes, giving them something to munch on works temporarily.

Other than that, know exactly what you want, where to get it and go as quickly as poss.

to laurielee - am steeling myself for school/nursery shoe shopping this Summer. Solved food shopping by taking it in turns, did do online but quite like wandering round the aisles, alone! Good plan sparkle - no more strolling round Bluewater...

Prepare them well: 'we are going to five shops and they are A, B, C, D, and E. After that we will go to a cafe and have a bun. We will have to buy X in shop A, we will be buying Y in shop B. You have to help me find Z in shop C. It must be pink and size 9. I expect good behaviour otherwise there will be no bun and I need your help because you are good little shoppers.'

If all else fails, bundle them all in a trolley and leg it back to the car and shop online

Mine are normally subdued with the promise of a bun, it's a bit like visiting the elephants at the zoo, the threat of a stampede is omnipresent but can be mitigated with baked goods

I cant drive so im either out shopping with dh or my mum, so either way they are pretty good with two of us. They are always good for Nana tho. If not bribery works a treat.

One, fine.
Two, frazzled.
Three (that age) close to insanity .

Awful, and the bad news is that mine are 10 & 8 {sad] so it doesn't get better with age...

They claim to want to come shopping to spend their pocket / birthday money, and will cajole/whinge until they've been to the shops they want... then it is a nightmare..

"How much longer?"
"I need a drink"
"How many more shops/floors?"

They also hide/ crash into people/ run in inappropriate places/ needle each other/push/shove until I have run out of threats and give up (which, of course, is what they want)

DH seems to have the ability to ignore them, and will try to engage me in important decisions about furniture etc, but I cannot concentrate with them about, and can't so any serious shopping with them.

It's pants.

That's the difficulty fluffy. I find that keeping the dc engaged and well behaved takes all my brain space. As soon as 'what flavour yoghurt' edges it's way in, they sense a chink in my armour and instigate a chase around the aisles.

zapostrophe!! That is exactly like me and my brood too. The mother whose kids are running wild in John Lewis whilst I am dashing behind them to catch up with the pushchair in tow, other people looking at me like I am some mad out of control nutcase.

God how I love shopping alone..

ROFL at "it's a bit like visiting the elephants at the zoo, the threat of a stampede is omnipresent but can be mitigated with baked goods" :o

OP, mine are exactly like yours, only without the limit on good behaviour - they strart insantly :) I always do food shopping online but for other shopping trips - well, this is why God invented wine at the end of the day.

Thank God I am not alone! It's the crashing around I can't stand, and the oldest one attempting to stop the others careering around, resulting in squealing and much delight at being chased. Sigh. Chocolate - good plan, usually works, but the moment i get sidetracked, 4 little accusing faces say 'you broke your promise; you said one shop, now we are at the handbags school jumpers again...