I Need a Personal Shopper

Can you hear that? It's my mind working on overtime. Sort of like one of those old-fashioned adding machines with the roll of paper. Rat-a-tat-a-tat. Rat-a-tat-a-tat. Ka-ching!

I'll admit it, I'm not even close to SuperMom status. In fact, on most days I fail miserably. What's a Mom to do when she can't cover all the bases?

Right now, I am working here in my home office, juggling a conference call and answering e-mails, washing a load of laundry, paying bills, planning my holiday gift list, and looking into my bare fridge trying to figure out what to make for dinner. And it's only 9:00am.

I don't plan meals well, which is pretty remarkable since I have such an obsession with food. I love to cook (if I had the time), but what I really HATE more than anything is grocery shopping.

It makes my skin crawl.

Pushing a cart with a bum wheel and praying I'm not stuck at the deli counter for an hour. Getting to the register only to find people still write CHECKS to buy groceries! (debit cards anyone?)

Even if I leave the grocery store unscathed I still have to tote a trunk full of groceries home before the ice cream melts, and find room to shove said food into my pantry.

It's all too exhausting.

I tried online food shopping. It's pretty good for some items, but not all. I like to pick out my own produce and check the expiration dates on the items, and that isn't possible in the home delivery scenario. So, it's like half shopping... I still have to go to the store anyway. Which defeats the purpose entirely.

It seems I have the ability to do multiple tasks at home, but when I need to get in the car and go to a store, that's when my candle burns out. I just don't have the time or the patience.

I need a personal shopper. Someone who shops like me, thinks like me, and has the same tastes as me. Someone who knows the difference between a good pineapple and a bad one. Someone who will use the coupons I clip but never use because of my frustration. Someone I can hand my holiday menu to and say... "Go forth and shop trusted friend!"

I know, I know... not possible. One, because I am not insanely wealthy enough to afford such a luxury, and TWO, I guess I am a bit of a perfectionist. Perhaps the perfectionist in me is the problem.

I get blazing angry when someone bags my groceries and puts my cold items in with the cans. Or worse, putting dryer sheets in with my deli items (a surefire way to lose my mind)!

My husband thinks I put too much thought into such a simple task. He is willing to go shopping with me, but he works long hours as well. We resort to frequenting grocery stores at high noon on a Saturday.

Not the best time to shop. Did I mention he doesn't like to shop either? That's a recipe for disaster. Because if there's anything worse than a frazzled Mom making the obligatory shopping trip, it's frazzled Mom and an impatient Dad rolling down the aisles.

Oh well, time to decide what's for dinner.

I'm thinking pizza.

Original post by Shelli to New Jersey Moms Blog... Shelli also blogs about really fun shopping of a different kind (handbags!) at http://bagmomma.blogspot.com/.