There's a sucker born every day. On May 30, 1975, it was my turn.

This morning Liam went to visit the ducks with Gramma and Grampa, and I took advantage of being down to half my usual workload and decided to go out and get some things done. This included a trip to the grocery store - the first of many such trips Mallory has to come. (I felt bad; Liam is in love with the grocery store these days - I should have offloaded her and taken him!)

Anyway, it occurred to me today just how much having kids has changed my shopping patterns. I am (usually) a pretty frugal person. A few years ago, you would hardly ever have caught me buying anything prepared. Don't get me wrong, I eat as much processed junk as the next person, maybe more; I am currently on a Zesty Doritos rampage. I'm talking about the foods that come pre-washed, pre-cut, pre-packaged - the things you pay a lot more for when you can do it yourself.

Well, consider me converted.

This morning I picked up a ready-made salad for my dinner tonight. I got some containers of peeled, washed, already-cut-up fruit for Liam and myself. Mallory wants to be held all the time, and wielding a knife in one hand and a baby in the other makes me nervous; this way I'll be able to satisfy Liam's gotta-have-it-NOWs without endangering her. I bought a bunch of fruit cup things. For some reason it's often easier to get Liam to eat individual serving bowls of stuff than it is to open a larger container and feed him from that. I guess the novelty is missing.

Yes, these days I have more money than time. Not that I have a lot of money; just that I have even less time. Don't worry, I am looking into buying some of those green bin things to cart our groceries home in... all the excess packaging I'm causing is making me feel very guilty indeed.