Shopping trauma

Harry, it turns out, doesn’t like shopping. In fact, he can’t bear it, particularly at busy supermarkets.

Now this might not sound like a big issue but, when you’re in a packed supermarket full of Christmas shoppers, it can be a traumatic experience.

Last Sunday we popped to Asda in Wrexham. Harry had enjoyed a decent nap before we set off so we thought he’d be in a good mood at the supermarket. He was – for about five minutes; he then started shouting, crying, chewing the side of the trolley and trying to grab, tear and throw anything he could get his hands on.

Melissa and I tried everything to keep him happy, including coaxing, singing and dancing, which can’t have been a very pleasant experience for the other shoppers. More to the point, it didn’t calm Harry down.

We got one or two sympathetic looks, obviously from parents who’ve been through similar trials; we also got a few ‘why-on-earth-would-you-bring-your-child-to-a-busy-supermarket’ looks. To be honest, it’s a question I asked myself.

So we resorted to bribery – feeding Harry crisps (organic baby crisps, of course) to keep him quiet. Surprisingly, this worked – until he finished the packet and the circus began again.

By the time we’d made it round the shop, both Melissa and I had reached the conclusion that babies and supermarkets simply don’t mix – particularly at Christmas time.

As a result, Melissa has vowed to do her supermarket shopping online in future. It’s worth it for a quiet life, something shoppers at Wrexham’s Asda will no doubt agree with.