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Original poster

Was this normal in the 90's

460 replies

sparklybin · 31/10/2021 08:10

I'm trying to sort in my head some of the things my parents did when me and siblings were growing up to see what was normal and was was not.

When my parents used to go into town ie the high street, if they had their shopping to do or something like a bank appointment they would drop us at the toy store and leave us there playing with the toys until they'd finished and then they'd come back. Probably used to leave us for about an hour but I'm not sure if it was longer. We were about 4/5 when they started doing this
I can't imagine doing this. It was early 90's though so I don't know if it was normal or not.

OP posts:
Hottubtimemachine · 31/10/2021 08:11

Yes I remember that but in the 80s

MaybeAMoaner · 31/10/2021 08:13

I never had this happen to me but I can imagine it being very normal in the 90s

My mum told me how in the 80s you were not allowed to take prams in shops so you had to leave your baby in the pram outside the shop and this was totally normal.
Imagine doing that now!!

Spudlet · 31/10/2021 08:13

Wow, I was little in the eighties and this never happened to me. I can’t imagine my parents ever having done that. They were pretty strict though.

HPandTheNeverEndingBedtime · 31/10/2021 08:14

I remember signs in shops saying children shouldn't be left unsupervised and the local library used to have a sign saying children under 8 had to have adult supervision. So I expect it was a thing. My mum used to drop me off at the library on a Saturday morning whilst she ran her errands and pick me up when she was done.

WheelieBinPrincess · 31/10/2021 08:15

We used to get left in the library looking at books while my mum did the shopping.

SophieHatterPendragon · 31/10/2021 08:16

I remember being left in toy departments while my mum did other stuff in the shop and also like a PP being dropped at the library. On Saturday they had story hour so she’s leave me there for that and then I’d be left there an extra hour or two on top just reading and looking at books / wondering around until she came back for me

knittingaddict · 31/10/2021 08:17

Not normal, no. My children were that sort of age in the 90's and we never did this. Don't know anyone who would leave children of that age unattended.

SliceOfCakeCupOfTea · 31/10/2021 08:17

@HPandTheNeverEndingBedtime

I remember signs in shops saying children shouldn't be left unsupervised and the local library used to have a sign saying children under 8 had to have adult supervision. So I expect it was a thing. My mum used to drop me off at the library on a Saturday morning whilst she ran her errands and pick me up when she was done.
I always chortle to myself when I see these signs because in my head I think "well of course my child will be accompanied by an adult or supervised!" But then it's sad when you think about why those signs are/were needed.
NannyR · 31/10/2021 08:17

In the eighties my mum used to leave me in the library whilst she did the shopping in town. I was slightly older though - probably 8+ and it was a small market town. I don't think she would have done the same in a big city.

Original poster
sparklybin · 31/10/2021 08:17

This is interesting as I can't imagine it being normal but perhaps it was then.

Another favourite was to leave us scoffing the sweets in the pick and mix aisle of the supermarkets while they went to do their shop. I cringe slightly at this one!!

OP posts:
Magicalwoodlands · 31/10/2021 08:18

Yes, and WH Smith’s reading books.

My dad was a bit of a CF.

dreamingofsun · 31/10/2021 08:18

i never heard of this happening. It would have been really disapproved of where i lived. People would have been worried about getting their babies nicked

knittingaddict · 31/10/2021 08:18

@MaybeAMoaner

I never had this happen to me but I can imagine it being very normal in the 90s

My mum told me how in the 80s you were not allowed to take prams in shops so you had to leave your baby in the pram outside the shop and this was totally normal.
Imagine doing that now!!

Not allowed? I don't think so. People did do it, but not because they weren't allowed in the shop with prams.
chocolatecerealcampingbrekkie · 31/10/2021 08:19

This never happened to me or my friends in the 90s . I would say that was not normal then.

GrammarTeacher · 31/10/2021 08:19

No.

MrsLargeEmbodied · 31/10/2021 08:20

my ds was born in 1994,
i would never have done anything like that

had no one heard of Jamie Bulger, that was 1993 and surely that must have made parents very anxious.

SugarMouseTown · 31/10/2021 08:21

No, not normal.

MrsLargeEmbodied · 31/10/2021 08:21

in the 1970s we were left in the car while adults were in the pub

OnlyFoolsnMothers · 31/10/2021 08:22

No- locked in the car whilst my dad was in the betting shop though

Scoutingformygirls · 31/10/2021 08:23

I have really clear memories of shopping in our village in the early eighties. The Post Office had a steep set of stone stairs up to it, so my sister was always left in her huge pram at the bottom. Often in a row with other buggies and prams. Was completely normal.

I don't ever remember being left though, as the older one.

0blio · 31/10/2021 08:23

My children were small in the 80s and 90s and no, it was not normal!

jay55 · 31/10/2021 08:24

Not at 4/5.

In the 80s we could play outside in the street at that age but wouldn't have been in shops alone, even the local shop until about 7.
Parents were hovering much more in the 90s, none of my friends younger siblings walked to school alone, even just 3 or 4 years younger than us.

furbabymama87 · 31/10/2021 08:24

My mum says in supermarkets in the late 80s/ early 90s you would see babies lined up in prams by the door while the mum went round and did the shopping. And some shops would have a baby in a pram outside. I don't remember ever being left on my own in a toy shop though.

WheelieBinPrincess · 31/10/2021 08:24

It definitely WAS quite normal for us though! Small market town, not a big city.

AlexandraEiffel · 31/10/2021 08:25

No didn't happens to me. I recall going to the library alone but that will have been towards the end of primary school

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