Shopping with toddlers

It can be quite stressful having to go shopping with a toddler who just wants to explore. You want to get things done and have a look at things, your child wants to see how far away they can get from you or just check out what the shops have to   offer eg. toys

I think we were lucky with our first child that she was weary of others and always stayed by our side even as a toddler. And not much as changed. She stresses for her brother who is the exact opposite. My son, who is now 3, loves to get out and discover. He did like his stroller but at the same time as soon as we got to our destination, he wanted to get out and run. This made it difficult to do anything as he needed to be watched closely. We had a few incidents where he would wander and we would hear over the speaker,' there is a lost boy wearing ....' How emabarrassing for me. It didn't worry him a bit. He loved his adventures. He once went from one end of a shopping centre to the other until he met with a security guard. This happened when he was about 2 and our baby was still a newborn. I didn't want to, but decided to get a wrist strap. I used this a few times and it was a novelty at first. Now he doesn't need it, we still have to watch him as he just loves to explore.

As a family we go supermarket shopping on a weekly basis. We have always done this together. What has helped my boy is that he is encourgaged to be involved. He is able to get things from the shelves and put them in the trolley. Then he can put them on the conveyor belt at checkout. He even likes to put the bags in the trolley and helps out when we get home, putting the food and other things away. I think this a wonderful way of keeping him busy and it helps his self esteem too. Some people just smile when they see him help. I think they are bemused. He gets upset if he isn't allowed to help, so why not?