Thank God She's In the Cookie Club! Free Cookies for Kids in Miami

I'm big on reward-based teachable moments (also known as bribery) when it comes to raising kids. Thought I'd mention the grocery stores that I go to that offer a "cookie club." You stop by the bakery and ask for a cookie club cookie for your child, and they give you a free cookie. Sometimes you even get a choice of flavors! It's a pretty easy club to get into, from what I can tell, you just have to be a kid. It's not an every time thing, but it's great for those longer trips that I know she's going to get antsy--I tell Elle that if she is a good girl, we will visit the cookie club before we leave, and after I've finished quite a bit of my shopping, we head to the bakery. Or, if she's a little saucy at the beginning of the grocery shopping, I can head it off by telling her that "I wish you were being a really good helper, because good helpers get to visit the cookie club." Like I said: reward-based teachable moments;-)

The other side benefit is that she gets to practice her please, thank you, may I have, etc., and work on speaking in a louder voice when she's addressing people. When she was younger she'd say "Cookie, please?" and now she knows to say "May I have a cookie, please?"

Publix offers the cookie club at all of its stores, and from what I've heard from moms in other areas, some stores have an actual card that gets stamped, and when you fill the card with stamps, you are entered into a drawing. The Publix that I visit doesn't have a card, I just stopped by the bakery after hearing about the cookie club and asked about it, and now they know us, so Elle asks the bakery lady for the cookie, and if it's an unfamiliar face I mention that "we're in the cookie club."

Fresh Market did give us a card that proclaims Elle an "Official Member of the Cookie Club". It's fun for her to show the card at the bakery when she asks for the cookie.

Gardner's Market and Winn-Dixie also offer the cookie club; I'm not sure if they have official "cards", just ask for a cookie club cookie at the bakery.

photo: sxc.hu/JR3