Impressing Trader Joe's Employees

For the past few months, Dex and I have gotten into the routine of going out to Baker's Square for dinner on Wednesdays and stopping at Trader Joe's to run grocery errands on the way home.  A couple of weeks ago, as we pulled into the Trader Joe's parking lot I asked Dex, "What are the rules in Trader Joe's?" I had never asked him this before but because he likes to push the kid-sized cart I wanted to see if he knew the expectations around running and being careful before I had to reprimand him about it in the store. Dex replied, "No donuts." "That's right, no doing donuts with the cart. Very good! What else?" I continued. "No running into people or things unless it is an accident," Dex stated without hesitation. I was smiling ear to ear hearing this! "And how do you avoid accidents?" I thought I might be pressing my luck but after a brief pause he replied, "Watch where I'm going." "Perfect! Let's go shopping!"

Dex, as usual, was a great help picking out our groceries. I usually have a few things on the list but let him pick out whatever fruits and veg he wants. This time, he picked out kumquats (none of us had ever had them before but that's cool) and blueberries. He helped me pick out vanilla Greek yogurt, "Here's the yogurt, Mommy! I just have to find the vanilla!" People were smiling as he helped identify our items and place them in his cart.

When we got to the check-out line, Dex waited patiently until it was out turn. He likes to take the items out of the cart and place them on the counter, announcing each item as he goes. "Here's some of Mommy's yogurt...and here are four more...that makes six! And here are two frozen pizzas. And here are some...some...Mommy, what are these again?" "Kumquats." "And here are some kumquats and some salmon...and frozen spinach...and, don't forget the blueberries!" The check-out guy was loving this. "What a great helper you are! Now can you put the cart back?"

Little did the check-out guy know that this was Dexter's favorite part of the Trader Joe's grocery shopping experience. Rather than push his cart into the last one in the row, Dex started moving the whole row forward so he could back his cart onto the front cart in the row. Another Trader Joe's employee noticed this and, trying to be helpful, said to Dex, "Hey buddy, look! You can just push it into this one. See, this part comes up and the cart goes right in." And Dex said, "No, thank you. I want to put it on this side so that everyone doesn't get the same cart." Realizing Dexter's logic, the guy smiled and shouted over to our check-out guy, "This kid is rotating the carts!" Turning to Dexter, he said, "We do the same thing with the yogurt!" And then offered him a job. Our check-out guy was so impressed with Dex's helpfulness and smarts that he offered him two lollipops from a basket. "You did a really great job helping today. You should pick out two lollipops." Dex picked out a red one and a yellow, said thanks, then turned to me extended his hand with the yellow lollipop and said, "This one is for you, Mommy. It's your favorite color." The Trader Joe's guys couldn't contain their delight with Dexter. As we walked out of the store, I could hear them still talking about Dex, "He just offered one to his Mom!!" "He knows about rotation!!" "He was adding the yogurts as he was putting them onto the counter, like not just one-by-one but four and two!!"

I told Dexter I was very proud of his helpful behavior and that it was very kind of him to share his lollipop with me. That moment made up for all the times I've been embarassed by his behavior in public. I felt like the luckiest Mommy in the world - not just that he was so awesome (he often is) but that it was on full display in public.