There Should Be Rules For Shopping Carts

Yesterday myself and the boys headed to Target for some back to school shopping. Silly me thought that going on a weekday afternoon would save me from the crowds. Um, wrong. Hello, you are not the only stay at home mom in Connecticut! It was insane, especially since our Target is being remodeled.

So in the parking lot I quickly threw two of the boys in a standard shopping cart just to get us inside so I could transfer them to one of the boats shopping carts that holds three kids. Our Target recently got new all plastic carts and they are seriously awesome. The larger one, which I can't find a picture of anywhere, has an addition in the front that seats two children side by side. The last time we were there I put the toddler in the regular seat and the twins in the side by side while the 6 year old walked. It worked brilliantly.

We get inside and of course, no big carts to be found. Great. The store is packed and I don't want the twins roaming around. So I throw both of them in the "cargo area" where they are practically sitting on each other. As we shop I have no choice but to put items on them. So there they sit with backpacks, folders and lunch box supplies piled on top of them. And because I was in a pissy mood now, I kept my eye out for the big carts to see who was using them. Why? Because I have seen on multiple occasions a parent with just one kid take these and it makes my blood boil.

I did end up seeing two of the multi-child holding carts as we shopped. One was being used by a mom of 3 - good that is who should be using it. The second was being pushed by a mom with two kids in it which normally is OK, but her kids looked like they were about 6 and 10. Seriously? Your 10 year old can't walk? My 6 year old loves to walk around the store and on the rare occasion that he does get tired, he will stand on the cart bottom and hold on while I push. But even if you did want your 6 year old to sit, couldn't you get a single cart and have the 10 year old walk? Here I am with my toddler and two preschoolers squished in a tiny cart while your big kids are lounging about and being driven around the store. It is just so inconsiderate.

So here is my rule proposal. You should only use the multi-child shopping carts if :
1. You have 2 or more children and
2. said children are too young to walk the store themselves. What is a good cut off age? 6?

Eventually I took one of the twins out once they started punching each other in the head. Awesome. So I held his hand while I steered the cart with the other. Normally I love shopping at Target but I couldn't get out of their fast enough. Shopping with 4 kids during back to school time is no fun at all.

Oh and I missed the Earthquake while I was in there which has me feeling very left out. People all around that area felt it, but for some reason we did not feel it inside Target. Boo.

Have you ever missed out on the big cart because someone who didn't really need it was using it? What did you do? (Or am I just nuts?)