Thank you to Albuquerque moms blog!

I feel like every time I go grocery shopping, I remove 8 years from my life due to the stress it causes. First off, I’m a working mom of three young kids who always seem to try to escape my grasp in the middle of parking lots when monster trucks with teenage drivers are barreling straight toward them.

Because I’m a working mom, I find myself in grocery stores at the worst possible times.

Either me and the kids have all had super long days. And then we’re trying to squeeze in a quick trip for groceries on the way home. Or we are shopping at the same time that ALL the other people in the entire world are also finding time to shop. And to top it off, I work with kids and their families. So it seems like every time I enter a store, I find someone I know. And we end up talking for awhile.

By the time I make it out of the grocery store, I am frazzled and frustrated. I only bought half of the items on my list because I was distracted by the 182 requests from my children for random things they don’t need. We have gone to the bathroom at least once (per child). And at least 2 of my children have crawled (or done ninja tricks or yoga moves) on a filthy bathroom floor. And I have purchased snacks and drinks for everyone involved. Maybe we even had to sit down for at least 30 minutes to eat the snacks.

What I’m saying is that I HATE GROCERY SHOPPING.

But what I should say, is that this working mom USED to hate grocery shopping. 

Smith’s ClickList has made my working mom grocery shopping dreams come true. 

The other day, I knew we needed groceries. I had heard that ClickList was pretty great, so I decided to try it out. I jumped on Google and quickly found the Clicklist website.

Then I created an account (which was super quick and easy. And if you already have a Smith’s Reward Card, it will be even easier for you). They had me select a store location. None of them are close to my house AT ALL. But I knew I would be near one of them the next day, so I signed up for that one.

Then they gave me some tips to start shopping. So I’m going to share them with YOU.

Select a Time Slot.

As a working mom, my time is pretty limited. So I chose a time slot when I was pretty sure I would be in the area because they put your stuff back if you’re not there before your hour is up. (Bonus Tip: the store gives you a number to call if you’re running late or something comes up so that you can make needed adjustments. I thought that was nice of them, especially since we live in the land of manana.)

Choose Items.

Since I’m not generally a Smith’s shopper, I didn’t already have a list or anything set up. I just went through my own Wunderlist and found the items I wanted on the website.  It probably took me about 10 minutes to find all the items I would need for the week and place them in my virtual basket.

Check quantities and finalize your order.

If you already have an order placed and you’re just adding to it, you’ll follow tip 3. But for me, I moved onto tip 4 and checked my item quantities. You can pay for some things by the pound (like apples or bananas), so you have to be specific if you want only a certain amount (like just one orange or fifteen onions).  When I finished shopping, I plugged in my payment information. And they said my order would be waiting for me during the time slot I had selected.

Pick it Up.

The next day was indeed a rough one. My kids were exhausted. We were all ready to just go home, but we really needed milk, eggs, and bread. And also I had thrown some conditioner on the list since mine went missing TWO WEEKS ago on our camping trip. And it still hasn’t resurfaced.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I pulled into the Smith’s parking lot. The website said there would be an area to park and push a button or something like that. I pulled in and immediately saw this welcome sign.

I called the number and a friendly voice picked up and asked for my name and my stall number.  She said she would be right out with my groceries. The minutes ticked by. The kids were a little restless. (They ALL needed to eat food and go to sleep).

When 6 minutes had passed, I saw a lady exit the front of the store pushing out a lovely cart of MY groceries!

You don’t even have to get out of the car!

She walked up to the window of the lady across from me and asked, “Would you like this in the back like usual?”  But, I wasn’t sure how all this worked or what to do next, so I got out of the car and greeted her. She was very nice. She offered me water and a snack and apologized for making me wait. (Apologized for a six minute wait? Amazing!)

She showed me my receipt so that I could approve of the purchase.  She had also had to make a few minor substitutions. For instance, they were out of the 12 oz bottle of conditioner I ordered, so they substituted it for the 21 oz bottle. At this point I kind of freaked out, expecting to have paid double what I had hoped to pay. She quickly reassured me that when they make substitutions, they price match the new item with the other item so that you don’t have to pay more. Hooray! I love that! I opened the back of my car and we loaded my groceries.

As I was driving away, I realized I had been in the parking lot for a complete total of 11 minutes. If I combine that with the 10-15 minutes it took me to sign up and order my groceries, I spent 25 minutes getting groceries for the week.

And none of my kids touched a dirty bathroom floor, threw a fit in the ice cream aisle, convinced me to buy nineteen boxes of cracker jacks, spilled icee all down their front and into my purse, or got run over by a monster truck.

I definitely think this was a win-win for this working mom!  You should try out Clicklist, and let me know what you think! https://albuquerque.citymomsblog.com/food/clicklist-working-mom/