Ream's and Food 4 Less

One of my most favorite things to do as a child was to go grocery shopping with mom. Now that I've experienced taking my own young child grocery shopping, I wouldn't blame mom if she were to say it was not one of her favorite things to do with us. I think I was fascinated with the variety of foods at the grocery store. The variety still baffles me and turns my quick trips into a little bit longer ones than I'd planned. I also loved getting a special treat on Friday grocery store day. I knew that when I came home, mom would have picked up a special treat for all of us girls. I remember too never asking for candy while at the store because I knew mom was going to let us pick out something from the bins near the checkout at Reams. Nerds, thumb suckers, wax lips, giant jaw breakers. Wasn't mom the best!

The other thing about going shopping with mom that still stands out to me is that she knew everyone and everyone seemed to know her. She talked to the produce guy, the butcher would say hello to her, she even had her favorite cashier's that would know all sorts of details about her and she about them. I'm not sure why, but I admired that so much so that I've tried to be like mom when I go to the grocery store. I wake up on Friday morning and am excited to go shopping (it's the only money I get to spend sometimes). I don't like Thursday night trying to decide what to have for dinner the next week though. The produce guys are starting to recognize me. Some are friendlier than others. The frozen food guys who are always stocking that aisle when I go in, will usually say 'hi'. I'm trying to get the dairy stocker's to look at me and smile. Even Mike at the gas station recognizes us and will usually comment on how good of a kid Ian is. But my favorite, just like mom I'm sure, is my favorite cashier. She knows Ian by name. She now knows me by name and says 'hi' to us when we first walk in the door. She's so friendly and we enjoy talking about our kids together. I know she is allergic to chocolate and likes the Sour Patch watermelon candies. She likes to take her boys camping. It's so much more fun to go to the grocery store when there's people there you're excited to see. Thanks for setting such a good example of friendliness mom. You're right, it does pay off!