As you all know, I had surgery 4 weeks ago that doesn’t allow me to be too active or lift my kids. I also am in between proper childcare. Because of this, when the weekend comes, we are often without groceries or errands having been done, but we still have 3 kids to entertain and only 24 hours in the day.
Instead of overwhelming our already tired bodies with taking the kids to an activity or event for them and then when we come home wiped out, sending Jon out to cram in a large grocery haul (which inevitably involved a fridge clean out and restock, making it more of a production than just running to the store), I decided to take a minute to think creatively about our options.
I asked myself, “How can we get what we need done, while making the same activity, fun for the kids”?
The reframing tactic that’ll take you from juggling it all to enjoying it all
I immediately thought of a grocery store in Westchester called Stew Leonards. I hadn’t been there since I was a child, but I recalled them having a small farm, an ice cream stand and animations for kids throughout the store. I gave a call to ensure this was still the case and decided this would be the perfect solution to entertaining our kids while also getting our shopping done!
I thought this was a great lesson for us Mamas that often get overwhelmed by all of the things that need to get done. Often, if we stop and take a beat, we can think creatively about options that could be a good happy medium. If you don’t have a Stew Leonards by you, this may be taking the kids to a farmers market that has kids animations or perhaps you need to get some errands done, but theres a cuter, more kid friendly town that you can get your errands done in, while also showing your kids some fun!
I drove about 35 minutes to Stew Leonards versus going to the grocery store we typically go to 7 minutes away, because I saw this as a way to please everyone and make something typically mundane, a fun day event!
Our Fun Day at Stew Leonards
Arriving at Stew Leonards on a hot Saturday
Choosing a trip to Stew Leonards as a kid friendly, parent productive event was the best idea for this hot, summer day!
Stew Leonards has a large flower, plant and garden nursery with everything you need for your garden dreams!
Jon hugging Sloane as she was freaked out by the mooing cow, but also loved it lol
Before I walk you through some of the highlights in each department, the BEST thing about Stew Leonards, is that there are animations entertaining the kids at every corner of the store. There are singing chickens, flipping winnie the poohs, mooing cows and the list goes on. There was never a dull moment the entire shopping trip as the kids were perpetually enamoured by the fun, interactive surprises at every corner. When shopping with 3 kids under 5 years old on a hot, Saturday morning, this was a life saver!
Another great way perk is their high quality coffee bar that you can get your coffee at just as you’re starting to shop, to keep you pumped up and alert during your shop.
They have an incredible fresh bakery that had everything from freshly baked, child sized, rainbow bagels, to the most delicious rugelach, to fresh garlic bread and every baked item your heart desires. We picked up the rainbow bagels, rugelach and this “protein” bread, and all 3 have been a HUGE hit in our home! I am dying to go back and try some others out!
There was a section with freshly prepared, precooked foods that had a cauliflower crust pizza. Oh. My. Goodness! I kid you not, this is THE BEST cauli crust pizza in existance. It tasted so incredibly fresh and delicious!
Stew Leonards Cauliflower Crust Pizza
Their produce section not only has a wide variety of the freshest produce, include unique, more specialized items such as leechees or sugar snap peas, but they also carry a beautiful selection of family sized salads, both premade or as a set, to make both entertaining and meal planning way easier.
I purchased a family sized salad kit that had fresh mesculin greens in one compartment and freshly dried cranberries and raw walnuts in the other 2 compartments. I have been throwing it together with either grilled chicken, turkey or left over steak all week for my lunch! It’s a great, fresh base that took the thinking out of figuring out my lunch for the week. It was extremely delicious and fresh!
Their meat and fish section is quite expansive, offering a wide selection of high quality meats and fish, both pre marinated, prepared or raw, giving you every option you could imagine to help your meal planning this week.
Given my minimal bandwidth and mobility, we decided to do easy grilling options all week. We bough steaks, lamb chops, salmon, chicken & pork sausages. So far, we’ve been quite impressed and thrilled with all!
They have the largest prepared food assortment you could ever imagine! It ranges from smokehouse BBQ, to Chinese, to hot and cold salad bar, to italian to everything in between, and it all looks fantastic.
kids enjoying the amazing ice cream post shopping
While we didn’t sample that, we DID take the kids for ice cream on the way out. Let me tell you, their ice cream is AMAZING. My kids and Jon all had the soft serve ice cream and I had the fro yo, and all of it was delish! Could there be a better way to keep kids happy after a shopping trip with singing animals than delicious ice cream?! I think not!
Rishi & I entering the mini grocery store farm
But wait, that wasn’t even the best part! We now went to the small farm that was 2 steps from the exit. We were greeted with life sized singing farmers in a barn with a talking cow and went into a real, contained petting zoo, with pet feed for the animals and adorable goats roaming around. My kids just loved seeing the animals and having some fun after sitting in the shopping cart before sitting in a long car ride home.
My kids enjoying the mini farm
All in all, it was an awesome experience for us all! Have you been to Stew Leonards? If not, I’d definitely recommend checking it out! I’ve also heard they have awesome Christmas trees and holiday fun during that time of year!
The kids had the best day and actually said that going to Stew Leonards was a super fun morning!
The productive, family fun didn’t stop there!
Daughter getting haircut
Dru needed a haircut and the hairdresser, Chappacuts, has a play area! We decided to take the kids to play while Dru got her haircut in a princess throne chair. Everyone had a blast and we checked another thing off of the list so I wasn’t stressed during the week. Young children often times just need a change of scenery, new stimulation and a lot of love.
Sloane playing in the playspace at the hairdresser
Have you tried combining your errands and family needs with creating fun filled, family activities? If you haven’t and are feeling overwhelmed, I’d highly recommend looking at your calendar and rethinking what Mommy errands can be repurposed into kid friendly events or family fun! If you have, I’d love to know what’s worked for you in the comments below!
Xo
Misha
