Me Want Cookie

Jamiahsh, a fellow blogger friend of mine, had a point when he noted that it’s been a long time since one of my famous anti-Walmart posts.  I hate the place, but as a mom of 4, I don’t have any other options that compare to the time and money I reluctantly have to admit I save shopping at Walmart.  It’s just their dirty tricks that drive me crazy, and I’ve ranted about those long enough – if you’re interested, flip through my blog posts and search for Walmart.  Right now, I need to address my most current Walmart disappointment: no more free cookies for the kids.

Those of you who have kids know that Walmart used to give out cookies at the bakery as a sort of rescue for tiresome kids whose parents are taking too long with their shopping.  I shop at Walmart once, sometimes twice a week.  It is a familiar habit for my two-year-old to get her cookie at the bakery while we shop.  If I’m lucky, it will keep her busy until I hit the dairy section.  But the other day during my weekly visit to Walmart, imagine my surprise when the lady in the bakery said they didn’t have any cookies.  Not only that, she thinks they won’t have them anymore, ever.  She wasn’t sure because the lady who usually handles the cookies (?) was on vacation.  Sounds like a cop-out to me…  I mean, is there really a lady who regularly handles the cookies?  I think she just didn’t want to have to tell this angel-face ‘no cookie’:

My daughter actually took it quite well…  of course, I bought her a pack of donuts instead…  It’s not that I’m a softie, but I just don’t think it’s fair that a two-year-old should have to bear the brunt of a mega-company’s policy change.  They gave cookies every time before this, and she has had to sit in the shopping cart and be good and do her time, and now all of a sudden, no cookie?  So I HAD to buy her a replacement treat, at least for this shopping trip.  Maybe in the future, I’ll try to prepare her ahead of time or just bring my own treat from home.  But in the mean time, their little plan worked, didn’t it?  Lure all the housemoms over to the bakery to get free cookies for their kids…  over time, they will grow to expect it, and then one day, no free cookies will cause them to pay money for something else for their kids – $CA-CHING$!

I admit it was a nice gesture on Walmart’s part to offer the free cookies in the first place.  Then again, we do spend enough over there; they should be able to afford it…  But it was a nice little perk, and as I said, something for the kids to look forward to about shopping at Walmart…  But in the end, it ended up being just another disappointment from our favorite big box retailer.

Our local non-Walmart grocery store still has free cookies for the kids, AND they’re fresh baked…  If I find more time and money, maybe I will make it a point to do more of our shopping over there…

How about your grocery store?  Is it a small mom-and-pop-owned place or a big box retailer?  Do they give free cookies to the kids?

Lisa