My daughter loves to grocery shop with me, not only for what goodies she can wheedle out of me, but we look forward to what oddities we are about to see in the seafood department. It’s our chance to get up close and personal with crustaceans that we normally would’ve visited at the Shedd Aquarium.

This week she was horrified at the lobsters with rubber bands on their claws and I have to admit I took a little delight in pushing the cart close to the ice before directing her attention to them. Sometimes it’s the little things that make parenting fun. She shrieked “I don’t want to touch one!” which is what she shrieked during blue crab week too.

I'm sure we looked like Northern Bumpkins when we stood there talking about the chelipeds and other parts of a lobster. I actually took my phone out to get a picture to send to a pal in Illinois.

I understand there is a superb fish market up the road where I can buy all the wonders of the sea as fresh as ever. I’m sure the day we go there the kid and I will walk around with our mouths agape discussing what we see and being a general annoyance to anyone actually trying to buy groceries.

I have a lot of questions about shopping at the fish market. How does one bring a live animal home? Where do you put it until its time to cook it? Do you refrain from showering due to the lobsters in the tub until dinner? Where can one buy crustacean openers? Do you put newspapers around the floor under the dining room table before letting your five year old loose on a crab with a hammer? How strong of a dining room table do you need to be whacking a crab on it?

I love seafood and order it whenever possible while dining out. I long to cook something other than a nice fresh fillet at home and need to find a book or something that will answer all these newbie questions. Until then, I’ll just be looking forward to the day when I confidently buy something from the fish market and know what to do with it when I get home.