Timing Is Everything

Run your errands at the right time of day for the kid. If you’ve got a toddler, that’s morning, before naptime.

Keep a Secret Stash

Stock the car with snacks, juices, and toys. Keep a cooler up front with cool drinks and cut-up fruit that you can hand back to your toddler when he or she gets fussy. Keep the car stocked with a bag of toys that only come out when you’re running errands.

Have Backup Gear

Keep an extra diaper bag in the car. This way, you don’t have to worry about forgetting something, Make sure the bag is stocked with diapers, wipes, change of clothes, diaper medicines, crackers, even a couple of videos if you’re lucky enough to have a DVD or VCR in your minivan.

Fit In Fun

Combine errands for you with a treat for your child. It could be lunch out, an ice cream, or a side trip to the park.

Don’t Forget Your Child

Don’t forget your child during the errand running. So during grocery shopping, for instance, play patty-cake and peekaboo while your child is in the cart. Turn trips to the post office and dry cleaner into learning experiences. Many proprietors will even give you and your child a tour if it’s not too busy.

Make Time for Playtime

Play games while you’re shopping. Give your school-age child a calculator and have him total up the cost of the groceries as you toss them into your cart. Let preschoolers put non-breakable items into the cart.

Bring Your Equipment

Bring the right equipment for infants. That’s a backpack type of carrier, or a front sling, both of which leave your hands free.

Play Mind Games

Play a mind game with older kids to keep them disciplined and keep your mind focused and relaxed. One good game is “jotto.” You each pick a word with five letters, no two the same, and have to guess the other’s word by stating five-letter words and being told how many letters match. Keeping track in your head is challenging, but fun.

Make Concessions

It can be frustrating for a child to watch you pick item after item from your list and have all his or her requests turned down. Instead of saying no each time your child asks for something, say instead, “Let’s add it to the list.” When you’ve finished shopping, read back the items on your child’s list and let him or her pick one or two of those items.