Sunday, September 2, 2012

Why I Love Online Grocery Shopping

Written on July 26, 2012.

Sweet readers, have any of you ever tried online grocery shopping??  I started doing it just over five years ago when I was pregnant with Emily.  I had some monster varicose veins that made walking around the grocery store physically painful.  At a friend's suggestion, I hesitantly gave it a try and it was FABULOUS!!!  Basically, you go online and order your groceries.  Then, you specify a time for pick up, giving at least four hours notice.  At the requested time, you pull up to the drive through lane, use the call box to tell them you are there, and then the magic happens.  Soon, someone from the store will bring out your groceries - already pulled from the shelves, already bagged.  You just hand them a check or credit card and, then, they load them in the car for you.  You never have to go in the store or even get out of your car! You can order them from your couch at midnight if that's what fits your schedule.  Instead of spending an hour walking around the store, you spend fifteen minutes (tops) in the parking lot.  It is seriously the best invention for busy families since the creation of sliced bread or station wagons.

(My grocery store of choice around here is Harris Teeter.  Lowes Foods also offers this service at some locations.  There is a small fee.  At HT, it is $4.95 per order and it is TOTALLY worth it!)

There is one down side, though.  I am so used to grocery shopping online that I tend to forget just how miserable a trip to the store with all three children in tow can be.  Because of that, I occasionally lose my mind and take the kids with me on a grocery run.  Today was one of those days.

I knew they would not be too thrilled with this outing, so I tried to insert a little fun by taking them for frozen yogurt first.  All was going well until we actually arrived at the grocery store.  Like a light switch that was flipped into the "ON" position, the fighting began.  They argued over who was going to push the cart.  Then, they (mainly meaning the two oldest) did anything and everything they could to annoy one another - singing, stepping in front of the other, lurching for the cart anytime I took my hands off of it.    All this on top of the expected "Hey Mom!  Can we get these?  or these?  or that?"  We finally made it to the check out and then headed out to the car.  At that point, we were all completely out of patience which only perpetuated the bickering.  The ride ended with one child (who shall remain nameless - except to say it's not the one you might expect) hitting her sister with a baby doll and telling that same sister she wished she would grow up faster and die!!  (Seriously - where do they get this stuff?!?!)  It was all I could do to keep the minivan between the white lines when I heard that and, obviously, there was some heavy punishment doled out as a consequence for those horrible words.  Once we made it home, the punished child went to her room, one went outside to get away from it all, and the other headed out to the playroom.  Finally, as I was putting the groceries away, there were a few moments of silence in which I could do some deep breathing to lower my blood pressure and reflect on the events of our trek to the grocery store.  It was then that I remembered wholeheartedly why I love online grocery shopping so much.

Thank you Harris Teeter!!!  Thank you to the person who invented the internet and the person who came up with the idea of online grocery shopping!!! (I am convinced that it must have been a mother coming off a hellacious trip to the store with kids in tow.)  Most of all, thank you to my kids for the poignant reminder and for accompanying me on what will be our very last trip to the grocery store together EVER!!!  (Well, a girl can dream, can't she??)

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10 comments:

Jeri Kleiber said...

I am so jealous!!!! I don't think we have that around here, but I am definitely going to look into it. A small fee is worth my sanity. My Husband doesn't understand why I want to go to the grocery store ALONE!!! Loved your story...Very Funny!!!!

B(itch)Log said...

I have to look into this! I cannot stand going to the grocery store and schlepping the kids up and down the aisles. It's very frustrating, to say the least.

Thanks for this post :)

Unknown said...

I need to see if they have this service here! When I lived in New England it was available but I never took advantage of it - only had one kid to drag around. Now, it's a pain in the ass - and WAY more expensive - and I end up buying crap we don't need because I'm just trying to get out asap!
Tracy @ Momaical

Pile of Babies said...

Oh man. It is so tempting. the problem is, my husband is allergic to spending a single penny on anything we can do ourselves. And so off I go, yelling my way across the aisles. I swear every time I go to the store the workers in the back hear me coming. "Looks like Ben and Megan are back. Hide the breakables."

Rachel S said...

I'm a bargain shopper and like to look for mark downs and clearance items, especially on produce, so it might not work for me . However I can imagine how helpful it would be to those that were unable to shop, were in a hurry etc. #TALU

Anonymous said...

Wow, that's great. I know there are stores where you can order products online to have them delivered, but I'm not aware of any where you can pre-order and pick everything up that way. I remember when I was a kid, there was one grocery store where my grandparents lived that had a conveyor system - you would do your shopping and pay at the register, and while you went out to get your car, they were packing everything onto the conveyor, so when you pulled up, they would load it into your car for you. I thought that was the coolest thing when I was little. :) [#TALU]

I Am Not Superwoman said...

I love grocery shopping online and do it often. So easy in our area and sure beats taking all the kiddos to the store, dealing w/rude people, etc...And keeps me on budget, no impulse buys...Love it, love it, love it. Thanks for linking up with TALU.

Lisa @ The Golden Spoons said...

Thanks for stopping by Rachel! I can still use coupons - I just get a credit on my next order. The sales show up online as I'm ordering, too. Plus, I think I save $$ because I don't grab anything I don't need just because it looks good. It does take some getting used to, but I love it!

Lisa @ The Golden Spoons said...

Hi Chris!! so glad you stopped by!

Lisa @ The Golden Spoons said...

It is so great, isn't it?!? So glad you stopped by!

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