What could go wrong?

That’s what I asked myself when my seven-year-old daughter proposed that she would buy the groceries I needed, by herself, without me. She’s never been to a store by herself, let alone paid anything.

The shopping list was very simple. A pack of chicken drumsticks and two bottles of lemonade. So I thought: sure, why not? She has to learn these things sooner or later anyway, and this is a good way to become a bit more independent.

Still, to me this was kind of a big deal. Would I be comfortable giving her my bank card? Would she be able to use the self-checkout machine without me? She’s seen me do it plenty of times, but what if she makes a mistake and pays too much? And would she be able to find the products herself in the store? What if she needs help?

All these ‘risks’ could be mitigated. I wrote a step by step manual on a piece of paper, which included the shopping list, and instructions on how I remembered the checkout machine to work. To be sure, I looked up a YouTube video of the interface of the self-checkout machine at our supermarket and showed her. We found an unused loyalty card for the supermarket which she could use (I wasn’t going to miss out on discount!), and I gave her my spare bank card and set the spending limit to a low amount, so she couldn’t spend too much. I wrote her name on stickers and put them on the cards, so she would ‘officially’ have her own cards, which made her more excited. And finally, she wore her GPS-smartwatch, so she could send me a message if needed. Virtual training wheels and kneepads all around.

I walked with her to the supermarket, but didn’t enter the store with her. From here she would be on her own. While she had some trouble at first finding the drumsticks, and returned to the entrance asking for help, from a distance I could more or less point her in the right direction.

Then she disappeared from my view. I patiently waited. After a few minutes, she reappeared at the self-checkout machines on the other side of the store. Still from a distance, I watched my little girl climb onto the machine to reach the touchscreen, and scan the items. And finally, I saw her take out the bank card and hold it to the terminal. I got a notification on my Apple Watch of the payment: success!

It was a proud daddy moment. I learned that letting someone else learn is about providing the right tools, giving them confidence, making it fun and being there to back them up. But mostly: to trust them to handle it on their own.

So to return to the question: what could go wrong? Not much! The only mishap was that on the way to the supermarket she fell with her scooter. With all the precautions, I didn’t think of letting her wear actual kneepads. I thought she might cry, but I quickly pulled her up and everything was alright. When we came home she discovered she only had the tiniest scratch on her leg. That’s what this whole trip was to her: no big deal.