I don’t need a cart. It’s just one thing.
Sometimes, I go overboard when I go to Target. I see so many pretty things and want to buy them all. I have learned that if I am just there for one thing and one thing only, I will still leave that story with a cart full of things we “need.”
I have tried shopping without a cart to trick myself into getting just one thing. It will be faster without a cart anyway, right?
Wrong. It’s never just one thing.
Going to the store for just one thing but getting a shopping cart just in case is the mindset needed for doing life as a parent with five kids. Things will go much smoother if you use the tools and help available to you.
I recently came up with a theory—a metaphor for life, sort of. Being a parent is like shopping at the store. Wait, let me edit that. This idea can be applied to simply being an adult with responsibilities. Hear me out.
Let’s say you are going to the store to buy milk.
You go to the store without a cart (because it’s just milk, right?) to buy milk, pay for it, and then leave. Success!
Shopping with no cart just to get one thing is like having your first child.
More Kids=More Mental Load
You are going to the store to buy milk. You get the milk. You are leaving, but then you see the creamer. Creamer’s a good idea. I love creamer in my coffee. And I just remembered we are almost out. No biggie. Just grab the creamer in one hand and milk in the other, go to check out, pay, and leave. Success!
Shopping with no cart for one thing, but grabbing an extra item is like having your second child.
More Mental Load Requires Better Tools
You are going to the store to buy milk. You see the creamer, decide to get it, and then walk toward checkout. On the way, you pass by the bread and grab a loaf because “what if the bread on the counter is growing mold by now?” You are now carrying milk in one hand, and in the other hand is the creamer while carrying the bread by the end of the bag. You’ve got this! Sure, the bread may start to slip, but you’re holding on pretty tightly, so that won’t happen. Who needs a grocery cart? You got this!
Shopping with no cart and getting several things unexpectedly is like having 3 children.
You are going to the store to buy milk. You decide to get creamer and bread. On your way to the checkout, you pass the medicine section and remember you used up the last of the Tylenol with your last headache, and now you need to grab a bottle. What luck! It’s on sale BOGO free, so you grab 2 bottles (who doesn’t love a bargain?!) and tuck them in under your chin. You are walking through life, I mean– the store, carrying a gallon of milk in one hand, creamer and bread in the other hand, with two bottles of Tylenol under your chin. The bread is starting to slip, so you tighten your grip. The Tylenol is awkward, and you realize if you drop it, you will not be able to pick it up from the floor, so you buckle down hard, straining your neck a little. Hurry to check out before everything falls!
Shopping with no cart to get one thing and getting a bunch of stuff unexpectedly is like life with 3 kids and 2 foster kids.
Then everything falls. The milk busts, the bread gets squished, and the Tylenol crashes to the floor and rolls under a shelf. Maybe this does not actually happen, but you can see it as a major possibility and maybe lose a little sleep over it.
So what do you do?
Get the Cart or Whatever Tool You Need So You Feel Ready for Anything
I don’t know what you do, but in my metaphor, you take a breath and think.
You put your things down before everything crashes. You walk to the carts. You resume your shopping and put everything in your cart. You use a cart. But sometimes the cart is stuck, and you have to accept help from the greeter, and that’s ok, too. You use tools. You accept help. You don’t have to carry everything by yourself!
This is what life is like when you use your tools and accept help. You get a cart.
You go back to shopping, and then you see other medicines also on sale, so you decide to stock up on all the essentials to be prepared. Then, one kid gets a bee sting, another gets a fever, and those essentials come in handy. It feels good to be prepared.
The shopping cart represents systems of organization. In my case, I started using a Happy Planner, following Organize 365, decluttering, creating a bunch of binders, and otherwise getting my act together. I started planning ahead with meals, schedules, and shopping. Using these tools and others equipped me to handle five kids.
Systems of organization are the tools, whatever they may be, that help you be more efficient. When you work more efficiently, you use the same energy to get more done. When we transitioned from a family of 5 to a family of 7, I implemented a few systems of organization that were crucial to survival.
What systems of organization have helped your efficiency?
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