To think that Xmas food shopping isn't a sodding family day out?

During one of the lockdowns I saw a woman I vaguely know in the pet shop with a new puppy. She's there with her DH and 4 children , 3 of whom were teens!

You were contributing to the place being absolutely rammed. Why didn’t you do your shopping online?

Shops outside of England

It's not the 50s. Mummy doesn't have to go shopping alone while daddy and the kids chill at home in peace.

Good idea to take the kids and involve them, instead of treating them like little kings and serve them!

It's busy? Well, yes, and you being there are part of the problem. Go another time or shop online.

But you have no idea why they are all there. They may be helping to chose the whipping, buying last minute presents or some other reason, In any case they have as much right as anyone else to be in the shop.

What shops are open after 4pm on a Sunday??

also people who can’t navigate car parks, or reverse park, or block the car park because they’ve seen someone get into a car and think they are leaving

also people who sit in the car having a chat oblivious to those waiting for a parking spot

The last couple of times I've been (non christmas) shopping in the supermarket, I've seen whole families, usually mum, dad a baby and a toddler and I wonder why you would do that to yourself.the toddler is usually having a tantrum (or 2) and it doesn't seem an enjoyable experience for any family member.

FWIW I online shopped when my DC were little, and now go shopping with teen DD. Shopping with DH is really stressful , I'd possibly choose a toddler over him! 🤣

I cringe when I see two parents, multiple kids including teenagers who could have stayed home.

In M&S on Saturday and a couple with pushchair and another child arguing and complaining that the child was ruining her “ experience “! FGS leave the kids at home with OH, not hard is it.

No, I really don’t get those parents that think Xmas food shopping is a family treat. If you’ve got an option - leave the kids at home. 🙄

Oh...... but I agree with you on the car park situation (yet more adults)!

I went to Tesco yesterday with 10yo DD. She helps pack as I load or vice versa. It was rammed and it was stressful but I did not come across a single child/teenager that was in my way.

I did encounter.....

-Two adults blocking the entire cheese section. One on the phone. One checking prices with the scan and shop even though they were labelled.

-One adult blocking the aisle whilst taking photos of 73 different stuffing mixes.

-One adult actively push another instead of saying excuse me.

-Couple. One half that thought it ok to stand in the queue with one trolley full. Made a frantic phonecall just as they were loading and suddenly the other half arrived with another full trolley.

-Couple. Swearing at each other about how fucking busy it is whilst blocking an aisle with their horizontal trolley.

Just got back from shopping and my irrational vent includes:

1. people who walk several abreast
2. people who walk very slowly
3. people who do 1 & 2
4. people who stop for chats in entrances and at either end of stairs/escalators
5. people who don’t use all the doors and cause bottle necks
6. people who shop in whole families with clearly miserable children

It's fine when they got older, there would have been no way on this earth I would have taken them when they were little I went on my own.
I don't care if people take their children shopping, I only care that I didn't cause myself untold amounts of stress by taking my own with me.

I've been and took DD(11) yesterday. She was my runner so I just walked down the middle aisle and told her what to get in each in. It was very efficient.

There should be a holding pen for partners who don't typically do the shop though. The amount of clueless people stood looking at shelves, getting in the way saying "I can't see it Sheila!" makes the whole shop infuriating.

I agree, supermarket was rammed today & you have whole families in there with babies screaming and toddlers running around. Why don’t the adults take it in turns to do some food shopping? It’s not a fun day out for anyone.

Hell freezes over before I take my sen kids into a supermarket. They would flip out within 10 mins

I like to do it in my own but dd wants to come (adult lives at home) so I have to ask my other dd if she wants to come (also adult lives at home) sometimes she comes too. For some bizarre reason they love doing the Xmas food shop.
Luckily ds has zero interest in food shopping.
Dh usually drives us as I can't be bothered with all the traffic and parking nightmares he sits in the car and waits.

YABU. If you can't cope with other people doing their stuff as families or poor driving in a car park, order your bits and bobs online

Surely it’s each to their own! And I agree with some of the PPs that have said often the little kids are better behaved than the grown ups.

We’re a family of 4. It is very rare we all go to the supermarket together, and when we do it’s usually when the DH is off work, so at a more quiet time. Taking my two year old without a second adult is not worth the hassle but my four year old absolutely loves coming to the supermarket (M&S and Lidl are his favourites). He sits nicely in the seat or pushes his own mini trolley and loves being able to choose his own veg and snacks etc. On the way around, we chat about what we’re going to make with the ingredients we’ve brought etc and where they come from. I think it’s part of learning about how the world works etc. I’m not going to leave him behind just because it’s a bit busier. If it was super busy, I’d get him to sit in the trolley rather than push a little one and at that point, we really aren’t causing anyone any harm!

I think it’s different in the run up to Christmas, & dc are entitled to be there anyway.

What a miserable thread ….
im a single parent and have no choice. I get that might be within one of the accepted carve outs but of course those in the shop won’t know my situation and now I feel like everyone’s going to be tutting at me.
People have many reasons for not going alone. No one needs permission.
merry Christmas OP- hope your mood picks up!

100% agree. Its hugely irritating when there are swarms of families in the aisles, just leave the children at home.
Im doing my final M&S shop tomorrow at 5am so hopefully no family outings at that time.

Because we like going! We don’t see it as a chore, it’s something we enjoy doing. I don’t like shopping online at all.

We have a rough idea of what we need, but we enjoy looking at the Christmas offerings, and LO likes to choose a book.

I don’t understand people who enjoy running / cold water swimming / football but each to their own.

some people like clothes shopping, I do not - I like food shopping!