Shopping Helper

My little one is such a great helper! She has been especially interested in our shopping excursions. We needed to go to the grocery store for a couple of items, and since it would be a quick trip, I decided to let her walk instead of putting her in the cart. She loved this. We picked up a small hand held basket to carry our few items, and, to my surprise, instead of holding my hand, she wanted to carry the basket. We made a compromise. We both held onto the basket, as it was a bit big for her to carry all by herself. As we put things into the basket, she wanted to arrange them just so. She would occasionally get distracted, let go of the basket, and try to start touching everything on the shelves as we walked. I would remind her that I needed help with the basket, and that we shouldn't touch EVERYTHING. Mostly that works, and she will resume her hold on the basket, and we'll keep walking. It makes shopping a not so quick trip sometimes, but she definitely feels like a big girl, and a great helper. And she seems less intimidated by people who want to say hello to her in a store, maybe because she isn't as close to them, so they are less likely to try to touch her, as sometimes happens when she's in the big cart. Regardless, she is my best helper, and we're enjoying figuring out ways to continue to let her help!