Mommy memories

Today on one of our walks we stopped and picked up some rolls at the nearby bakery. We left with 5 rolls, but came home with only 4 1/2. That's because Lily ate the other half--I hadn't even paid for the rolls yet and she wanted some. Not that I could blame her--the bread from the bakery is baked fresh daily, and it is good.

Whenever we go to Superstore, Lily can get a free (oatmeal raisin) cookie from the bakery. And if "our" meat lady is at the deli counter, then she gets a free piece of ham, too.

It reminds me of when I used to go grocery shopping with my mom in Toronto. We'd stop at a general grocery store, the health food store, the veggie store and the meat shop. When my mom went into the health food store to get vitamins and such, I'd be allowed to go into the store next door, a combination book and toy store where I'd sit on a little stool and read books as fast as I could until she came to get me.

At the veggie store, the only clear memory I have is of my mom asking me to pick out 100 green beans. She showed me how to pick out good ones, and this was often my job when we stopped there--to pick out 100 green beans. I remember taking this job seriously and counting very carefully. Little did I know then that this was just a very good way to keep me busy while she picked the rest of the fruit and vegetables she needed.

One of my favourite memories is of stopping at the meat shop. The wood floor was sprinkles with sawdust, which I could swirl and draw in while waiting for our number to be called. When it was my mom's turn to order, the butcher with his pink-stained apron would ask me if I wanted a hot dog or a piece of baloney. Then the spools and webs of string overhead would whir as the butcher tied up our meat parcels.

And sometimes my mom and I would stop in at a coffee shop near the book & toy store and she'd buy me a pastry and herself a coffee.

It makes me feel good that our little grocery outings are so similar and filled with little treats for my baby girl.