Shopping with children isn't always an easy task, no matter where you live. And especially if you've got more than one! They are often tired, hungry or simply overexcited – but the fact that many supermarkets here don't provide enough help for families with young children frankly makes the whole supermarket experience that much more unbearable.

As a mother myself, I find it difficult enough hitting the stores with just one! Debbie McDonnell, mother of two, recently got in touch with 352luxmag to share her thoughts on the matter:

“ I've always enjoyed cooking. Leafing through recipe books and trying new foods. Wandering at my leisure while browsing the aisles for new ingredients is something I knew would be difficult to do with young children, but I never realised the whole experience would be just so stressful!

I appreciate that supermarket shopping with young children isn't in the top ten list of things to do to relax, but the whole experience could be made a lot easier...

Obviously, the easiest option would be just not to take them, but unfortunately with more than one child, that isn't always possible. There are OK weekends when partners are around to help, but to be honest, when family time is precious would you really want to spend part of your Saturday in a packed supermarket with a frazzled husband and bored screaming children?

So between naps and précoce as I'm a stay at home mum, I try to do the shopping myself during the week struggling round with two kids.

My life would be made so much easier if the supermarket chains in Luxembourg looked at the following changes:

- Parent and toddler parking:

Why is it so rare here to see parent and baby parking? Do they not appreciate that generally there are more than three parents shopping in their stores? Time after time I have to park a walk away from the store, either leaving my two children in the car while I go and get a trolley, or I have to struggle carrying them on my way to get one. Not easy! And it seems that when there IS a parent and toddler parking area, anyone and everyone parks in it regardless of their childless status. It is true that the larger shopping centres in Luxembourg provide such parking spaces, but not enough

- Shopping trolleys:

So here's what happens: I leave my children in the car to go and get the trolley from outside. I then wipe the cold and wet seat down and place my 15 month old in the seat. There are no safety straps to secure her, keep her safe or prevent her from falling or reaching into the cart, which leaves me with no choice but to hold onto her while I try to put my three-year-old in the cart.

Alternatively, I could let her walk and risk her running off or taking goods from the shelves, so the easiest thing is to put her in the cart where I can see her. There isn't much room so she is uncomfortable and already moaning as soon as she gets in it. Then I start shopping... holding on to my 15 month old to prevent her from toppling, I am also limited to what I can buy as my three-year-old is taking up room inside the trolley and has already started messing around with the items in the cart.

Now I start rushing. The lady at the cheese counter feels sorry for us and cuts some cheese off for both of them, it works temporarily. Now my 15 month old has banged her face and starts screaming. I decide to abandon my visit and tell myself I'll pop back in the evening. Meanwhile, I have only bought about half of what I need.

On our last visit to the UK, I took the liberty of taking photos of their shopping trolleys. They cater for everything: trolleys for babies, babies in car-seats, trolleys with one baby seat and one older child seat, two baby seats next to each other etc... it was great. They even had trolleys with a device to safely place your baby's car seat on top of the cart as opposed to here where you have to precociously balance it across.

I sat my two kids next to each other and they were comfortable, safe and although it wasn't completely stress-free as my 15 month old started pulling her sister's hair, it was considerably easier since they were safe and I even managed to buy everything I needed. They also had plenty of parent parking bays.

So why can't it be like that here?

Alternatively, I’ve been to supermarkets in Germany where they have trolleys shaped like cars, so the two of them can be strapped in side by side while pretending to drive the car. Again, a good distraction to help the parent get on with the task in hand.

I’ve only been a mum for 3.5 years and previously hadn't even considered something like this, but having experienced it firsthand, I'm now keen to try and influence the supermarkets in Luxembourg to make some changes.

Mothers are (generally, not always) responsible for feeding their family. We try to ensure that we provide a well-balanced, healthy and varied diet for them, so whether we like them or not, we spend a lot of time in supermarkets. We therefore represent, in my opinion, their target market - so why not help us out a bit more?

Improve trolleys, put them inside the store, provide more family parking spaces so that we can be nearer to the store. This would allow us to spend more money in your stores!!

Agree or disagree? What are your thoughts on this matter? Leave us your comments below or email me at gabby.bourgeois@newmedialux.lu