Trapped in Tesco

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It is no word of a lie to say that I spent most of one day this week trying to do our weekly grocery shopping. I began to wonder if I’d ever come out of the store alive. Since Finch was born I’ve been using the Click and Collect service, which has relieved me of the epic task of trawling around the supermarket with two children in the finite window allowed by a breastfeeding newborn. Post-holiday however, I hadn’t been organised enough to order anything for our return and the household needed food pronto.

We started well. All three of us were fed and toileted before leaving the house, and neither child (or parent) was screaming in their car seat when we drove away. Following one humongous traffic jam and the usual charade of getting us all back out of the car again and into the shop, I’d managed to put two items in my trolley before Little Owl declared she needed a wee.

Freshly relieved we had secured the fruit and veg component of our list when it was evident Finch was getting hungry. The supermarket cafe beckoned, where we all sat down for our age-appropriate drink and/or snack. Following a second trip to the disabled loo with the baby changer we advanced on dairy produce. We had got as far as milk when Finch produced one of those nappies that just can’t be ignored, so back we went to the disabled loo.

We returned to dairy produce. It was only after we’d located our preferred type of cheese that I realised that while dutifully meeting my children’s needs I had neglected my own and my pelvic floor still isn’t its usual self so off we went to the disabled loo. We hadn’t even made it back to the dairy section when Little Owl declared she thought she might need a wee again after all. I must have asked at least five times if she needed to go when we’d just been there but she insisted she was ‘busting’ despite my dark looks so it had to be the real deal. Back we went to the disabled loo. This time the security guard waved and smiled as we passed.

We had just made it through the dairy section and picked up a packet of bacon when Finch decided he would not be put off his next feed any longer. By the time we’d sorted him out it was high time for Little Owl and I to think about lunch. On and on it went like that. We left the shop in the end at half past four. All I can say is thank goodness the freezer section was near the end or else our frozen purchases would have been thoroughly thawed!

Here are a couple more holiday sketches.

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