Shopping for school supplies - Independence Style!

Last night, after a snack to return my lovely almost-5-year-olds to their normal selves, we braved the store to buy our school supplies.  Gracie insisted on pushing her own cart.  Lukie was too tired and asked if he could sit in the seat, so I pushed his cart.  With reluctance, we proceeded.  In the future, Gracie's goal will be to work on not running into the back of people (my ankles!).  She loved the independence of pushing her own cart and putting her own school supplies into the basket. She also loved all of the praise she got from complete strangers:

"What a big girl you are pushing that cart!"

"You are super strong to push that cart all by yourself!"

My favorite one came as Gracie pushed her cart, filled with bagged purchases, next to me as we walked to our car. A woman and her daughter were walking toward us.

"Mommy!  That cart is moving all by itself."

"Oh, my goodness!  Ma'am, is that your cart?  It is going to go into the street!"

"Look, Mommy, the cart has feet!"