Thrill Of Shopping

My son is at the age where he wants everything he sees in a store. There is no filter. A recent trip to the pharmacy lead us to a basket full of cheaply made toys, handfuls of greeting cards, a broom and several packages of of "D" batteries. None of which we needed. It was clear to me he just wanted everything he saw and that this was just the "thrill" of the shopping experience. I knew going in everything would be distracting. There are balloons on top of the isles, flashy signs and lots of other things that make getting through the store a challenge. In order for us to get in and out of the store quickly and without spending a lot of money I set a spending and time limit before even stepping foot in a store. I do not want to organize stuff at home that we do not need in the first place. So, I do a quick scan of the toys before I leave home to see what we are missing. Most of the stores have seasonal items out on the shelves which makes it easy to grab a go. Finding something we actually need is priceless. This also makes it easier to cancel out items in the basket that he thought we just had to have. Now if we could only make it past the candy at the check out!