This blog post is the fourth in a series of posts designed to teach you how to meal plan during times of crisis and in your every day life (post-coronavirus). If there was ever a time to consider practicing the Art of Organized Meal Planning–it’s now.
*Note – This is not a Sponsored Post. I’m blogging about a ‘cool product’ that works for me. All words, photos, and opinions are my own.
My kids are fourteen and ten years old now but I remember a time when they were little and I carried around A LOT of stuff for them. I owned a stroller with a large basket so I would have plenty of space to store extra diapers, toys, snacks, and anything else we would need when away from home.
There are a million and one products marketed to new parents but one that I found to be most useful was The Mommy Hook. David Abels, dad of three and the inventor of The Mommy Hook, knew that he and his wife could not be the only parents that couldn’t push a stroller, keep an eye on a child (or two), and carry a multitude bags at the same time. In 2006, The Mommy Hook was born and millions have been sold worldwide. I remember hanging everything from a diaper bag to shopping bags to whatever I needed handy for my young children from that giant hook on my stroller’s handle.
If you’re unfamiliar with the product, learn more about it here.
I own three Mommy Hooks plus a mini one that must have come packaged as a bonus.
OK–you’re probably thinking, ” What does all this have to do with getting organized for meal planning?”
I’m so glad you asked. Here’s my story…
Before the schools closed in mid-March due to the coronavirus, I had a feeling that we would be heading into some kind of lockdown situation. My husband and I took a deep dive into our pantry, fridge, and freezer, then made shopping lists, and split up to hit 4-5 different markets in our area in the span of a few days. I went into meal-planning mode and planned out our meals so I wouldn’t have to go to a supermarket or rely on delivery for a while unless absolutely necessary. I went three weeks straight without food shopping–only using what I had in the house to feed my family.
With four people continuously home and continuously eating for three weeks, it was eventually time to head to the supermarket. Trying to avoid crowds, I ventured out in the late evening to my local 24-hr. ShopRite. Since I hadn’t food shopped in almost a month, my huge order overflowed my shopping cart at checkout. Even with carrying some of the bags on my arm and pushing the cart to my car, a few bags fell off and some cans and boxes got dented. As I stood in the parking lot, exhausted from shopping under coronavirus-conditions at midnight, I knew there had to be a better way. It was in that moment that I remembered The Mommy Hook.
I hadn’t used one in years but I knew that it was exactly what I needed to ensure my trips to the supermarket were easier and more organized. I thought, “If it could work on the handle of a stroller, it could work on the handle of a shopping cart!”
Even though I hadn’t used a Mommy Hook in about six or seven years, I located them, dusted them off, and placed them with my recycle bags to take with me on my next food shopping trip.
Fast forward three more weeks. Time to do another big late evening shop at ShopRite. I brought two Mommy Hooks with me and at checkout, placed 3-4 bags with ‘like’ items on each–light stuff such as chips, pretzels, and bread products, and hooked them to the handle of my shopping cart. Easy-peasy! I got some strange looks from people but I didn’t care. I breezed out of the store, pushed the cart to my car confident that this time, nothing would fall out. I unhooked the Mommy Hooks from the shopping cart handle and placed both with the shopping bags still attached to them, straight into the front seat of my car. When I got home, I grabbed each hook and brought the bags of groceries into my garage.
So.Much.Easier.
Remember–I was doing all this around midnight–when you’re tired, everything needs to be easy!
But, The Mommy Hook isn’t just for use on the way out of a supermarket. You can also use The Mommy Hook on the way in to the supermarket. Clip it to the handle of your shopping cart and hang your recycle bags from it while you’re shopping. If you’re buying as much as I am lately, you need all the space in the cart you can get!
Mommy Hook features:
• Made from lightweight but heavy-duty aluminum
• Soft foam rubber grip prevents slipping and sliding on a shopping cart handle
• Soft foam rubber grip can be grasped comfortably as a handle
• Large enough to hold many grocery bags at once
• Fits most shopping cart handles
Mommy Hook benefits:
• can be used to organize bags of ‘like’ food items together
• creates more space for groceries and bulk items in the main section of a shopping cart
• can be used as a central location for anything you need to access quickly while shopping
Price: from $7.99 – $9.99 depending upon where you buy it.
Worth.Every.Penny.
Years ago I purchased mine at BuyBuyBaby in New Jersey but a quick Google search showed me that they can be purchased at Target, Walmart, Bed Bath and Beyond, and of course, Amazon. If you’d prefer to shop local, check stores in your neighborhood that cater to babies and young children.
Think The Mommy Hook would work for you as one of your organized meal planning tools? Let me know in the comments section below!
Stacey is a Professional Organizer, Virtual Organizer, and Author in Bergen County, New Jersey specializing in home organizing, time, and paper management. She is the author of The Organized Bride’s Thank You Note Handbook: Let Systems and 101 Modern Sample Thank You Notes Take You From Overwhelmed to Organized.
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Well I just love this idea! Where to put the reusable bags is always an issue. In fact, I was thinking that carts are probably going to made with a built-in hook for this purpose in the future. This is a great solution until such time as carts catch up with current shopping patterns!
What a great idea–shopping carts with a recycle bag hook! Growing up in NYC, I remember how the shopping carts had small S-hooks at the end where my mom hooked on what’s called a ‘granny cart.’ That’s how she got the groceries home without a car. With a family of five, she probably could have used some Mommy Hooks!
I love the Mommy Hook! I can see how they would be so useful both on shopping carts and the stroller. I’m going to get a few for my son and daughter-in-law.
I think your son and daughter-in-law will thank you for that Mommy Hook! And as you can see, it’s not just for when someone has little kids. I used those Mommy Hooks seven years later. They’ll always come in handy!
Love the Mommy Hook! That’s a great idea! Thanks for sharing your experience.
It’s amazing how something as simple as a hook can make your life easier!
Oh my gosh I need these for my car! Great idea, thank you.
I hope you find The Mommy Hook as helpful as I do!
What a fun post! I recall when my children were small, the stroller handles were like hooks and we used to pile the bags on. It was always a problem (LOL) when the little ones would hop out of the stroller before removing the bags, the stroller would fall backwards. Boom!
I’m going to show this to my daughter and I bet she’ll love it. I know it would come in handy.
Yes–I remember having to unhook the bags from The Mommy Hook before I took my child out of the stroller or else–BOOM! I have a good feeling your daughter is going to find The Mommy Hook very helpful–it pays to have a mom who is an organizer. Thanks for your kind words, Ronni.
As a singleton (who usually uses the little basket and not a whole grocery cart), I’ve never even considered this problem, so it’s thrilling that you’ve brought it to my attention. I’ll be sure to point clients and friends in the direction of the Mommy Hook! (Also, many stores here aren’t allowing things to be bagged in canvas/reusable bags during the pandemic, but eventually, we’ll go back to environmentally-wise behaviors, and these will be great for that!
The stores in my area had just switched to paper when the pandemic began so they brought back the plastic. Each store has it’s own rules. The first time I went to Trader Joe’s during all this, they did not allow you to bring in your own recycle bags. By the time I went back a month later, they allowed customers to use their own recycle bags. The only bags you can’t hang from a Mommy Hook are the paper ones. Rrrrrrrip! Thanks for sharing my idea to clients and friends!