When you have young children, you have to take them everywhere before they're old enough for you to trust them to be on their own. Until that time, they remain under your watchful eye as you go about your daily activities. Whether you're taking them with you to work while they're on vacation with no available babysitter or whether they're simply accompanying you on your weekly grocery shop, they're always around.
If you do take your children grocery shopping, you'll know how stressful this can be. As adorable as kids are, they aren't always on their best behaviour. And having them run up and down the aisles causing mischief while you have a heavy shopping cart to navigate can be draining. It's usually best just to seat them in the cart.
Credit: Pexels / Victoria Borodinova
The thing is, when going shopping with their parents, kids want nothing more than a ride in the cart. No, I don't mean in that handy, little compartment at the back of the cart which specifically serves the purpose of seating children. I mean, they want a ride inside the cart with the rest of the groceries.
But when your children start to become bigger and heavier, it can become increasingly difficult to lift them out of the cart with the rest of your items. The problem is particularly bad if you suffer from back pain. Your back would need a bit of respite from heavy lifting, not an additional burden.
If you are in a similar situation, then you're in luck because, courtesy of Laura Castrillo, we will provide you with an apt solution.
To see this clever hack for yourself, check out the video below:
Years ago, Castrillo, a mother from Houston, Texas discovered one very simple yet genius shopping cart hack - a hack that will benefit all parents with young children. Initially, it seemed that her mother would benefit most from the hack but Laura decided others could too, and she is finally sharing it with the world.
Castrillo's mother had moved closer so that she could see her grandchildren more often. Through spending more time with her grandchildren, Castrillo's mom discovered one thing - she had difficulties lifting them into the shopping cart.
"My mom's back was sore from lifting my kids in and out of the shopping cart," she told Love What Matters. "That's when I shared THE TRICK with her. Behold, the best mom hack you'll ever find."
Castrillo posted a Facebook video demonstrating the useful trick which, as of writing, has garnered 4.7 million views and more than 6,000 comments. It turns out all you have to do is lift the back panel of the cart so they can crawl in, before putting it back in place. It acts as a sort of cat flap for your kids.
Credit: Pexels / Oleg Magni
But before we give Castrillo all the credit for this hack, it turns out she learned the trick from her stepmom.
"My stepbrother, whom I help take care of when my parents are working, has some disabilities and my stepmom discovered this easy way of getting him into the shopping cart when he was younger," Castrillo explains.
"I've been doing it with my own kids for about two years now, and it has made shopping with them a lot easier," she continued. "My youngest has always been a husky guy, and I'm not very tall, so lifting his solid body high enough to get him into the seat portion of the cart is uncomfortable at best."
Well, all we can say is there's no doubt that parents up and down the country will be extremely grateful to Castrillo for sharing her tip!