My First Solo Shopping Trip at Age Three

Would you let a three-year-old girl go shopping by herself? That is what my mom did when I asked if I could go to the store. Distracted, Mom thought I was going with a neighbor and said “yes.” I don’t remember the ten-minute walk to the store, but I can still see myself getting a cart and pushing it down the aisles. I could barely reach the handle with my outstretched arms! I had two goals: to get jars of baby food for my one-year-old brother and cereal for me.

As I made my way around the store, an extremely tall lady stared down at me in disbelief (at that age, everyone looked huge).

“Where’s your mommy?” she asked, her eyes as big as quarters.

“At home,” I said. Where else would she be?

“And she lets you go shopping by yourself?” Shock was written all over her face.

“Yes!” I answered, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

I have no idea whether she kept an eye on me after our little exchange, but I happily went on my way. I was heading for the checkout counters when I realized I didn’t have enough cereal, so I went back to add seven boxes to what I’m sure was already a large collection. Not wanting to be selfish, I also grabbed more baby food. My intention was simply to push the cart out of the store. Who cares about minor details like money and paying?

Meanwhile, as you can well imagine, my parents were in full panic mode. They checked with all the neighbors. They called the police. Finally, my conversation with Mom came back to her consciousness from the far recesses of her brain, and Dad rushed to the store to look for me. He found me patiently waiting in the check-out line.

To my great dismay, he forced me to put back on the shelves all the food I had so painstakingly collected. I cried loudly and profusely to make sure he knew how I felt, to no avail! And so ended my first independent shopping trip, in a puddle of tears.

I’ve always wondered how the cashier would have reacted if I had made it to her. It’s probably best that I never found out.

Picture: ChatGPT