On working a different shift

Now that my primary priorities in life are split between being a house frau and a mother my daily routine has seen a major shift.
Obviously my days are no longer spent battling traffic at 8am to then wage war in the office, only to battle traffic to come home and spend the last few hours of the day with my husband.
Nowadays my time is spent doing things more central around the home. Which I love.
And given that my schedule no longer revolves around an inflexible work schedule I find myself planning errands around rush hour to avoid traffic and busy stores. Makes perfect sense.
But one thing I didn't realize was what kind of world it is out there during working hours - hours I usually was spending at my desk, or in meetings.
For example today I drew up a lengthy grocery list so as to stock our shelves for the next couple of weeks. The idea is to reduce the number of times I go to the grocery store to once a week at most. In the past I would sometimes go two or three times a week because I wouldn't bother to think ahead of what I wanted to cook for dinner for the whole week. So I would find myself stopping off at various stores throughout the week so we would have something for dinner on each individual night. Or, I wouldn't make the effort to check our pantry before going to the store and then find out we were out of coffee - after I had just been to the store - which would then send me to the store again the next day.
Because coffee cannot be lived without.
Heads explode.
Now that I'm home full time I feel there is no excuse - I have the time to sit down and draw up a menu for the week, check the pantry, and draw up a list.
Which I diligently did this morning.
And off to the store I went, fully expecting the parking lot to be empty and the aisles to be vast and wide and clear of crazy late afternoon shoppers trying to stock up for dinner and get home to their loved ones.
What I didn't realize is that I am not the only one who plans her grocery shopping around working professionals.
Old people are working the same angle.
Old people who drive down the center of the parking rows, rather than to one side. Which is ironic because while they can somehow drive directly down the middle of the lane, they can't seem to park their cars directly in the middle of their parking spot.
And they seem to have the same cart maneuvering skills while in the store.
Down the middle.
Slowly.
Stopping erratically.
And when they do leave their cart anywhere, it's random, in the way...and it makes my brain bleed.
But I'm patient. I'm not in a rush like I used to be in the evenings.
Sure, I've got things to do, errands to run. And sure it worries me a little bit that I might get boxed in between the frozen meat case, the butcher counter, and an erratically abandoned cart and then go into labor - only to find myself trying to get out of the store, in labor, stuck behind a pack of old people slowly pushing their carts. Being forced to delivery my baby next to the cereal and coffee.
But it would make for a great story I suppose - so I don't let it get to me.
It might take a little adjusting given that I'm more used to the fast paced environment that I'm coming from.
But pretty soon I'll have an 8lb dead weight slowing me down that will only get larger, heavier, and more challenging.
So perhaps I could learn a thing or two from the older more elderly generation and start slowing down now.
Before my head explodes.