Woolworths can suck a dick

There! I said it!! 😂

We all know it's a strategic move by supermarkets to put all the toys and confectionary at child height, and at the checkouts; because you can avoid the lolly aisle, but you can't avoid the checkout right??

They deliberately set us up to fail, shopping with kids is hard enough, but trying to scan and bag your own groceries in the self serve area whilst also trying to stop your child grabbing lollies or a chocolate bar?? They know we will say yes just to get the hell out of there!

I thought I'd won that battle when I started doing click and collect, but good old Woolworths had other ideas...

Let me tell you a story about my Thursday morning...

I opt for click and collect at the marketplace; which means I have to go to the service desk, there's no 'direct to boot', which is fine because I grab my meat at the butcher on my way out...

But Woolies decided to put the toy Woolworth's trucks on top of the newspaper stand AT THE SERVICE DESK! So while we are waiting for our groceries, my 4yo sees the trucks and 'wants to look at them'. This naturally evolves into him wanting the truck, and me saying no, "it's almost Christmas, we aren't buying any toys"

So I pry it out of his hands and have to carry him to the butcher as he starts crying and struggling to get free and go back to the truck (I really should've done the butcher first today)...

We go to the butcher to get meat, and I'm thinking to myself "this kid has been reading my social media posts and is making me put my money where my mouth is" 😂 So in that moment, I take a deep breath and make the choice to be regulated (because it is a choice). 🫠

So I'm holding him, while he starts screaming at the top of his lungs, and trying to struggle free... I have to yell over the top of him to order my meat, meanwhile he's started hitting me as well 🫣

I'm unphased my this, what I find interesting is observing people's reactions.

People look at us as they walk by, 'let them judge', I say... One staff member at the butchery empathises with me, telling me her own child behaves like this too...

The lady serving me is older, she eventually starts to get cross and I can tell she deems the behaviour unacceptable, she starts to clap and SSHHHH him.

We are almost through the meat order and Mr 4 starts to settle down, the lady who empathised with me comes and asks me if she can give him a chocolate!!!

When I politely say no she is taken aback, I say to her "he's not having a reward for being silly!" To which she replies "I just want to make him happy!" (so his big emotions made her uncomfortable and she wants to stop them), I laugh and say to her "If I wanted to make him happy I would've bought him the truck!" 😂😂 and at this point it's the male butcher, who's been watching the whole thing unfold, who laughs at the exchange and backs me up!!

I leave the marketplace quite bemused by all that's unfolded. Proud of myself for choosing to remain calm and regulated, even though it was a very public display. I contemplated letting him steal the truck; as a big 'fuck you' to woolies and big corporations who put us in these positions, but that teaches my child he can just take things that he wants, so not a great message...

We unpacked it all later, once he had calmed down. I said we could write a letter to Santa and ask for the truck, and he apologised for his behaviour (without being probed), and said 'I just wanted the truck'...

So Mamas, I just want you to know that you aren't failing if you give in and buy the truck. We are up against big corporations who prey on our dysregulation, our fear of judgement and our exhaustion; to make poor choices and say yes in the moment when we would actually rather say no, but we pick our battles for all of those reasons.

Our nervous system regulation is the way out of the cycle. Focus on yours and give a big middle finger to the forces against us. 💕💕