GROCERY LIST GAME

I walked into the house carrying several grocery bags and placed them on the counter. “Okay, let’s see if I win!”

I walked past my son Alex and went over to the shopping list that had been left on the counter.

“Why do you always leave the grocery list at home?” Alex asked as he began unloading the bags.

I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t do it on purpose. I just forget to bring it.”

Alex opened the refrigerator and put the milk on the shelf. “So why don’t you make the list on your phone? That way you’d always have it with you.”

I looked at him for a moment then shook my head no. “This is more fun.” I said as I held up the list.

Alex was still putting the rest of the groceries away while I quickly read through the list. “I remembered everything!” I cried as I waved the list up in the air. “And there were some hard ones on here.”

Alex started to laugh. “You had hard ones?”

I pointed to the first item on the list. “Dijon mustard.” Hoping he’d be impressed but not taking any chances. “Not just mustard but Dijon mustard.”

Alex nodded. “Okay, I guess that was a hard one.” he took the list from me. “Wait. It says Cascade.” He looked around on the counter top. “I just unloaded the bags and I didn’t see any Cascade.”

I held up a finger. “That’s because your Dad said he wanted to get that at Costco, so it doesn’t count.”

Alex nodded again. “It also says tortillas.” he pointed to the item on the list. “I wrote that one myself and I know I didn’t put that in the freezer.”

I looked back on the list. “That one doesn’t count either.”

Alex laughed. “Why doesn’t that one count?”

“Because it wasn’t on the list this morning when I looked at it.”

“I know.” Alex put the list back on the counter. “That’s because I added it when I ate the last one at lunch today.”

“See. So it doesn’t count.”

“How?”

“Because my ‘memorize the grocery list’ game started this morning before I left the house. Anything added after that goes on the next list.”

I pulled a pad out of the drawer along with a pen and handed it to Alex. “You can start a new list and that can be the first item on it.”

Alex sighed as he began to write. “If you’re not going to put the list on your phone maybe you could call me when you forget the list and I can send you a picture of it.”

I shook my head. “I told you I’m working on my memory.” I crumpled up the old list and threw it in the garbage then tapped the side of my head with my pointer finger. “As you can see I’m crushing this memory game!”

Alex handed me the new list where he’d printed TORTILLAS in capital letters. “Hopefully this will help with your next trip.”