Why do some parents...?

Question

...take their kids to grocery stores and let them eat food right out of the bakery boxes on the shelves?? Today a woman brought her child into the store where I was working, and while she was placing her order, her child removed a lid to a cake and started eating the chocolate peelings off the cake! The mother saw what her child was doing (yes, I'm positlve), but did nothing, and then she took her child and walked away, just leaving the cake picked over with the lid off on the shelf. Another time a woman was with her son, and her son was up climbing on the second shelf where the bottled water was. An employee mentioned something to his mother, who said,"Please get down," and that was it. Her son of course didn't listen, and was still climbing on the second story shelf when the employee left.
And my biggest concern of all: Why do parents drive shopping carts around with their kids standing up in them?? I was at a register where a little girl was standing in the cart. She leaned over to look at something, fell right out, hit her head on the bag rack, and landed flat on the floor. And another time I saw a woman with a little boy standing up in the child seat (you know, the area right by the cart handle where a child can sit)! He was at least four or five feet off the hard cement floor! I was so scared he was going to fall!
Please please watch your children carefully. I'm not judging anyone or criticizing, but I want to keep our food safe for customers to eat, and I want your children to be safe.

Answer 1

Yep, you are right. Kids will do it everytime and exactly when mother is "distracted." It is amazing they live very long.

Answer 2

I had a heart attack at wal mart a couple of days ago. A woman was totally not paying attention to her 2 children. I would guess ages 18 months and then 6 months. The 18 month old was in the back of the cart, standing and doing all sorts of acrobats , hanging out of the cart, etc...The baby was in his carseat on the handle bars of the basket. I was watching them and the little boy then proceeded to grab the bottom front opening of the basket and the baby and the car seat started to fall forward. My heart just stopped and I jumped forward to grab the baby, but an older woman closer to them, caught it. Oh my Gosh! You know, the mother was oblivious to the whole thing. Never even knew her baby almost landed head first on the cement in his car seat. I cant stand children left alone, or roaming around in the cart like that. I was shaking after that, cuz of the adrenaline rush I got to go grab the kid. AHHHH. Some people. And yes I hate seeing kids eating food out of things in the store too. My 7 year old grabbed a plum once and asked if he could eat it because he sees other kids doing that stuff. I said absolutley not. That is stealing. So he knows better. I wish people would pay more attention to their kids.

Answer 3

I can't believe the first response to this question about "you must not know what it's like to have an active toddler." Give me a break. That kind of attitude is what is leading to all the disobedient kids these days. I have a daughter who is 13 months, and I watch her like a hawk in public. When I put her in a shopping cart, I put her in the seat, not in the basket, and I strap in her in...that's what those straps are there for. That way I know she's safe, and it makes it harder for her to reach out and grab things. And if a child grabs a food item and starts eating it, then the parent should have to pay for that item, because the store can't resell it and shouldn't have to take a loss on that product. As someone who has worked in retail, I would never even let my daughter eat something that I was planning to buy. I used to work at Target, and I would get so irritated when a parent would come up to my register, pry a bag of chips or something out of their child's hands and have me scan it. Our store didn't have an official policy on that and they allowed it to go on, but I think that items need to be bought before they're consumed. You're right to judge parents on this type of behavior and from the sounds of things, you'll raise your own children right when that day comes.

Answer 4

I agree, that the food should be safe and the children should be too. You are not being critical at all. I think that some parents don't watch their kids in the grocery and not even pay that much attention to what they are doing. There should be some type of discipline that should be enforced with some kids that are very active in the store. Some customers cant even shop properly because of an unruly child. Don't matter if you are the parent of a active toddler or not, you should still have control over your kids in a public setting.

Answer 5

I don't know about where you are, but the stores here don't put up with that crap. Neither did my cousin in HIS grocery stores in Huntington, West Virginia and Charleston, WV...Where I shop there is a policy that if you open it, or your child opens it, you bought it. If you walk away, then you are asked to leave, forced to sign a trespass violation notice (that subjects you to arrest on subsequent visits) and you still get to pay for the damaged goods. It is also policy for the store employees to require parents to control their kids when they begin to act rowdy. There is NO EXCUSE for a parent to know a child has damaged food and then simply leave it for the store to deal with. Sometimes the store employees don't know about someone having "picked at" a cake or other item, and simply will close it back and not remove it from the sale area. If a child has a disease, then a whole family gets infected, and then an epidemic is started. If you see a parent walking away after having pulled a kid out of a bakery item, be loud enough to "force" action. Make sure the offending parent is cajoled into paying for the damaged goods, whether they take them with them out of the store or the store simply tosses them out...But in any case, make sure the store does NOT simply put the opened goods back into inventory, but rather disposes of it entirely as contaminated.

AS for the climbing and other antics, again, telling parents isn't enough sometimes. Letting them know that you will act as a witness against them and for the store in the event of a lawsuit over "junior's little mis-hap" sometimes gets the point across. If it doesn't then letting store management know about the situation and your intent to avoid shopping there in the future because of all the unruly behavior is usually enough to get someone's attention.

In any case, make sure the store knows WHO the offending parents and children are, and stress the importance of being able to shope around well-behaved children and not a bunch of wild hooligans. If the parents pitch a fit, then take their photos with your cell phone and tell them you're posting them on the internet as people who won't control their kids at the store...

You'd be surprised at the results you get, even if your phone DOESN'T have a camera...LOL....

Answer 6

In this day in age of "time-out chairs" and reasoning/ rationalizing behaviors, our children are becoming more disobedient and out of hand. I am a mother of a 3 yo boy and would never evne dream of letting him behave the way you describe. I've seen these ultra gentle approaches to children's bad behavior and it infuriates me. Also, don't forget that you are in one of the biggest public forums and are likely to see the height of this stuff. Today, while waiting for pictures at the picture people in thae mall, my son started melting down. He began running and hitting me. Guess what I did? I swung him around, slappde his butt and that got his attention. People were looking at me but I don't care. I'm trying not to raise a brat that everyone can't stand to be around.

Answer 7

I've seen the same stuff. It really pisses me off. In my neighborhood, I'm certain that my neighbors have had children so they can collect insurance money. They let them get hit by cars, shoot each other with various toys, and the parents don't watch them. Tiny toddlers are wandering the streets waiting for child molesters to find them. I hate it.

Answer 8

Oh that gets me too!!! What really drives me crazy is when I turn down an isle and someones kid is standing in the middle of the isle or is running down the isle right in my way, and the parent will not do a thing about it, and just continues shopping.

Answer 9

I find that parents give in and get fed up and ignore their kids most of the time.
I prefer disciplined, kind, well manured, respectful and obedient kids. If I can succeed at this then anyone can. It takes time and consistency and you can't let your kids ware you out.

Answer 10

Because parents want to be their kid's friend not their parent.And there are a lot of parents out there who think the entire world revolves around their kids.