Grocery Shopping with Grom and a GIVEAWAY!

giveaway closed

Grom and I do our weekly grocery shopping at Trader Joe's. It's a great place to shop. Have you seen this video?

It's so true. I'd be one of those beautiful moms if only I had some yoga clothes.

Anyway... just about the time that Grom got to big to pick up and throw in the cart seat, grocery shopping became a bit of a pain. It's like Grom decided that Trader Joe's was the perfect place to misbehave and act like a hooligan.

Our Trader Joe's has Sally the Seal. She's a stuffed animal who is constantly hiding around the store. Grom and I joke that she works at TJ's and is hiding to get out of work. She is one naughty seal. Looking for Sally used to keep Grom occupied enough so that I could shop. Here she is snoozing amongst the toilet paper. Finding her gets you a handsome reward.

Grom still looks for Sally, but there are only so many places a sneaky seal can hide so he usually finds her pretty quick. I decided I had to come up with another idea. Enter the picture shopping list.

Each week I spend a couple of minutes adjusting the last list with some of the new things that we need. Some of the items never change as we are creatures of habit and Surferman loves his green apples. I find the pictures through Google Images. Just type in your grocery item and a picture will come up paste them into your document and voila. I have found that if I search for "Trader Joe's" and the item, I often find a picture of the exact product. Those crazy bloggers love to post pictures of everything.

At first, Grom's shopping list was pictures only. Recently I started adding the words to encourage Grom's learning to read. He looks for the items and then crosses them off as he puts them in the cart. It doesn't slow me down any more than when I used to have to take him to the bathroom to threaten talk some sense into him.

So here's where the giveaway starts...

First - Grom's Printable Grocery List. Feel free to download and use it with your kiddos. I made a pretty generic one to share. Everyone wins!

Second - I was contacted by CSN stores with an offer to sponsor a giveaway. CSN is a bunch of online stores offering many different items for the home like kids bedding, kitchen items, toys and games and so much more. CSN has over 200 stores. I could get lost shopping at everyespressomachine.com and cookware.com Next time you need something, go check out CSN.

I had a hard time deciding what to choose as a prize. Finally, I picked Learning Resources Pretend and Play Teaching Cash Register. I know it's something that Grom would really like to have. He has wanted a cash register forever, and money math is a very important skill to master.

Here's a little about this great register...

Cha-ching!! Playing store comes to life with this talking, interactive cash register that rewards transactions with lights, sounds and voice messages. Holds actual-size money and includes a built-in scanner, scale, coin slot and volume control. Engaging play helps kids practice basic math skills including addition, subtraction and recognizing different coins and bills. The automatic shut-off saves batteries and reminds kids to 'Come and play again!'.

So, some of you are thinking... great Robin... I don't have kids why would I want to enter your giveaway. Well... that's what I was thinking too. So I'm sweetening the pot.

Third - To complete the grocery shopping experience... A $25 Trader Joe's gift card! I think that'll buy you about 7 bottles of juice with a crazy name or 25 organic yogurts or 18 bottles of sparkling water or... well the possibilities are endless aren't they. If you are unfortunate enough to not have a Trader Joe's close by, I'll get you a Starbucks card instead. Starbucks are everywhere.

So... How do you enter? There are three ways to win.

1. Leave a comment with your favorite item from Trader Joe's or something you'd like to try from the video above.

2. Subscribe to my blog . If you already subscribe, great! (let me know in a separate comment)

3. Post or tweet about my giveaway on your blog or on Twitter (let me know you did in a separate comment - leave a link to your blog or your twitter username).

Of course, make sure I have an email address to contact you if you win.

Winner will be chosen by random number from eligible comments. Entries accepted until 10pm PST March 25, 2010. Winner announced Friday March 26th. Prizes can only be shipped to the US and Canada.

Whoever you are, I hope you win.

Happy Shopping!