By Nikol Hasler

When our kids are small, we dread taking them to the store. If you don’t have anyone around to take them off your hands during the grocery shopping, the trips can be a frustrating experience. And if you have more than one, look out! It’s kids against Mom. All of them talk to you at once, all of them want something, and inevitably you check out with items they slip into the cart that had more grams of sugar than a cable network has channels.

As parents, it’s our job to teach our kids the skills they need to become healthy, happy adults.  We teach them how to treat each other, how to clean themselves, and how to please just give us five minutes so we don’t lose our minds. (That last one is pretty important.) So, why not teach them how to shop?

Focus Areas:

• Label Reading: By telling your kids what you are looking at- sugar, proteins, serving sizes, fats; and by talking to them about dietary values throughout the day, they can begin taking part in snubbing the foods that are full of the bad things and not the good. The same goes for ingredients. High fructose corn syrup or partially hydrogenated oil? Back on the shelf.
• Meal Planning: What makes a meal? If you involve your kids in menu planning for your at home meals and their school lunches, they can become engaged in seeing all of the things that are needed to create those meals. This is also useful in creating your shopping list.
• What does it cost? By telling your children what your grocery budget is and having them help you look for deals based on ounces, coupons, and deals, they not only see what throwing their food away costs, but their math skills are used outside of the classroom.
  
  Taking the kids to the store doesn’t have to be a hassle. It can even be fun. And to make it even nicer, reward those smart shoppers with a special treat each trip. It’ll feel much better allowing them a reward of a single can of soda when they aren’t begging you for a whole liter.