I'm taking my kids to the grocery with me this morning, which is mostly fine because they are old enough to help load the cart and to make some decisions about what they will get for snacks. At the same time, though, taking two kids to the grocery is an exercise in insanity because they are so won over by the packaging that it's hard to get them to focus on the actual food. Henry--who wouldn't eat a fruit roll up if it were the only food left in the world--once sobbed in the snack aisle because I wouldn't buy him Scooby Doo fruit roll ups. Sheesh.

So you can imagine my delight when super smart reader Michelle sent us this fabulous tip: "Every time we go to the store we go through the same crazy thing. Whoever the hottest character at the time is, and what can we get with them on it. Most of the products are not so great for your kids, though I do have to commend some companies for trying to put the characters on their products that have less sugar and are considered to be a "smart solution", however, they are still not on the most healthy or best foods. So here is the solution that I have found to this problem. Stickers. You can find stickers of all of the popular TV characters, and put them on whatever you want. Apples, bananas, you name it, it goes there. Now when our three year old starts saying that he wants a Spiderman snack, we have it. Spiderman cheese stick, Spiderman bread, Spongebob bananas. the list is endless. I just think that sometimes you have to give in a little to get the results you want. This is the best solution I have come up with to my crazy I wants. Does anyone else have any ideas??"

I think her sticker idea is brilliant, and the rest of the Parent Dish team agrees. And I'm also curious: what are your tricks for the grocery story I wants?