Playing with Food

I have a million dollar idea.

I will share it with you as long as you promise not to steal it.  Promise?

OK.  There I feel better now.

My idea (and really, it is soooooo fabulous that I can't even stand it) is  . . .

to incorporate a playroom into your local grocery store.

Ingenious, no?

I came upon this idea after trying to do my weekly grocery store run with all three of my kiddies in tow.  After I rescued El from almost doing a header out of the cart's seat. After I had said to E for the 107th time, "Don't touch every piece of produce!" After I sounded like a broken record saying, "No.  You don't need that.  You want that,"  or "If sugar is first on the label, forget about it!"  After all of that, it occurred to me how pleasant grocery shopping could be if, and only if, the kiddies weren't there.

And the idea was born.

What if upon entering your local grocery store, you first stopped at their well equipped playroom?  You could check your kiddies in safe with the knowledge that a) they would be no where near you and could no longer sneak goodies into your cart and b)  you could shop at a leisurely pace instead of having to run up and down the aisles to keep little hands from grabbing items and to stem the inevitable meltdown that a too long grocery trip triggers.  Wonderful, right?  The kiddies would be happy too.  No longer would they have to deal with a grumpy, snapping mom.  They could instead play on the play equipment, organize a mean game of house, or just generally run amok.  Happy mom equals happy kids equals win-win in my book.

To up the ante, just off of the playroom, the grocery store could have a swanky coffee bar.  Moms could drop off their kiddies, grab a cup of joe and actually, enjoy grocery shopping. Then, moms could linger a little longer in the produce, be able to ask the butcher questions, or even (gasp!) read labels.  I personally think that this extra time spent in the store would certainly translate to more money spent by the shopper which, in turn, would then translate into greater revenue for the grocery chain. But, that is just my opinion. 

And, after your shopping is complete, and you have made it through the checkout with no meltdowns, no extra chocolate bars snuck in the cart, and no extra buttons pushed on the credit card reader by messy little fingers, you could smile!  Your chore completed, you could pick up your happy, if exhausted (an added bonus) kiddies on your way out to your mom-mobile.  

It is genius, I tell you.  

I would even drive across town to visit a food chain if they had a playroom.  

Seriously.