The outsized, supersized, and oversized...

supermarket shopping experience.

It all starts in the parking lot.
Rows upon rows of parking spots. W-i-d-e parking spaces. Both of which I can fully appreciate.
Especially the wide parking spaces...I am still getting the hang of turning into a space at a ninety degree angle. And ending up centered. Which isn't always the case.
There's still some reversing back and forth that goes on until the job gets done.
M has started to ask, "Are we good?" before unbuckling himself from the car seat harness.
When I get it right in two tries, he commends my efforts with a congratulatory "You did so good Mom!"

Then there are the shopping carts. A variety of shopping carts.
The standard cart. Or there are the kid friendly carts with the cars attached to the front. Or the carts with the two seaters. Fun for M to hang out in but impossible for an adult to push.
We've had some close calls with a Pepperidge Farm cookies display and a fellow shopper while trying to make a turn. No. Can. Do.
Just think. I never used a cart when food shopping in the city.
Why bother when the carts barely fit in the narrow aisles. Nevermind about moving forward if there is another shopper with a cart coming in the opposite direction.
Old habits die hard.
My first month as a suburbanite, I would walk into the store and just start shopping. Either with a hand basket or just throwing stuff into the stroller basket.
This occurred early on when I wasn't driving yet and walking to and from the supermarket.
The stroller handles would be loaded down with bags. Of course the basket beneath the stroller would be stuffed to the max too.
An uncommon sight in this town.

I digress. Let's rewind to actually being in the SUPERmarket.
Feeling like Alice in Wonderland amidst the wide aisles and towering shelves.
Fully stocked. Neatly stocked.
Gleaming colors. Dazzling array of goods.
Very well merchandised.

I have since learned to go food shopping with a list. And checking it twice.
A vain attempt to avoid overspending...and to save myself a hike back and forth from one end of the store to the other.
Forget the onions whilst perusing the dairy section?
This oversight means a long haul from aisle #11 back to aisle #1. Passing displays that I missed the first time that can easily trigger an(other) impulse buy.
After a couple of trips like this in one outing, I eventually make it to the checkout line. Or the self-checkout line. Again with the choices.

The best part...
carting the goods back to the car. This newbie tends to park a yonder from the more congested parts of the lot.
Because I can.