Was this normal in the 90's

[sparklybin]

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.

My parents didn't but I think was regarded as okayish in the 80s and early 90s. We lived in a very busy London suburb but in the village I live in today imagine this would have been considered normal.

Yes I remember going with my dad to what was Tesco’s and he would go shopping and I would happily sit in the book area reading books 😂 would have been about 8

I agree with knittingaddict. No one I knew/know ever did this.

My Mum used to leave baby me outside the house in my pram regularly until one day an old man came to her door and told her off for being so irresponsible.

Both my parents had a sort of ‘hands off’ approach to parenting me.

@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!!

I don’t know about the 80’s, but certainly in the early 70’s, you absolutely couldn’t take prams into shops! In my local Tesco, the tills were at the front of the store, and the till operators kept a look out over the prams parked outside. There were no special trolleys in those days, so you either had to carry your baby round whilst doing your shopping, or leave them in the pram outside. Perfectly normal for the time!!

I used to get sent into the shop to buy the paper, my mum used to wait and watch outside with my brother in the pram because it didn't fit through the door

I think it might have been normal for some people in some areas but definitely not everywhere.

If you look carefully you will still small children left alone in toy shops and libraries. Left to play alone in town squares and playgrounds and if you ask them where their parent is they tell you the truth. My Estate agent used to tell me all sorts of stories about showing people around house for sale where the children were home alone.

We were never left like that (70's and 80's) seems very unusual to me

Nope. Never did this with mine. No way!

@sparklybin
I remember my mum saying we could take 1 sweet from the pick and mix but that was the most we were allowed 😂
I remember- I must have been max 5 - and I woke up in the evening - pitch black - to my little baby brother crying loudly - so I managed to drag him out of his cot (without lowering it of course 🙈) and carried this huge fat baby who could hardly walk downstairs. Again - pitch black - and I was too small to turn the lights on. I remember sitting there for ages with a baby/toddler in a very wet nappy on my knee til a parent came home- it seems they used to go and play cards with the neighbors across the road and check in on us occasionally 😂😂😂🙈🙈🙈 my mum claims they used to check in every 10 mins ... but I know better 😂 I was sat there for AGES 😂

@sparklybin I am shocked that your parents were not called out by the toy shop owners for abandoning you - and using them as childminders. It's pretty poor parenting, and it's not pearl-clutching to say that. If I had been the shop owner, I would have called social services to be honest. (Yes, I really would have!)

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!!

I can assure you that back in the 1950s and 1960s, prams weren't allowed in shops as there just wasn't room for all the big coach prams. Some supermarkets even had signs which said, "No Prams Allowed". Everyone would just leave their babies outside in the pram, usually parked with lots of other prams! It was definitely the norm!

In the IKEA at Warrington they used to have a kids TV room (before the days of the crèche/soft play area, or maybe that cost money?) And I distinctly remember being left in there with my siblings for an hour or more watching looney tunes and other cartoons whilst they bought a kitchen. Would have been maybe 1989.

My parents definitely weren't a "leave them in shops" pair but we were allowed to roam the neighbourhood a lot.

@WheelieBinPrincess

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

Yes I was too - during the early/mid 70s. This was quite normal.

My children were small in the late 80s and early 90s and I can’t imagine ever leaving them anywhere like that. Some of the new indoor shopping centres had crèches/supervised play areas where you could leave the children while you shopped and I think I dropped them in there a few times. I grew up in the 60s and our Mum used to drop my sister and I at the Saturday morning pictures (cinema) while she went shopping. It cost 3d (that’s 3 old pennies) it was good value baby sitting !

@LittleDandelionClock I think the staff told them off and not to do it again but they definitely went back to these ways soon after. They are pretty cheeky even now tbf.

Maybe not a totally different shop, but I used to get left in the toy AISLE in the supermarket? While DM did all her shopping?
I deffo was left in the library ! We had a lovely big circular room and the entrance to it was by the reception bit.
Same as above; small town
And DM agrees that often babies left outside.
I’ve seen photos of one of the Scandi countries that still do this , all wrapped up and popped outside

@sparklybin I’m almost sad for the babes of today who will never know the innocent joy of just wandering by the picnmix and having a snack ! LOL

My parents didn't do this.

I’ve just remembered something else too from my childhood in the 60s, that horrifies me! I remember mum sending myself or my sister from the age of about 7 to the shop a few doors away for cigarettes and to the off licence opposite our house for a bottle of Sherry - and they sold them to us 😱 🤦‍♀️

We were left outside of pubs and clubs, either in the car or on the step, we had great fun and a freedom hat children these days will never feel. I left my baby outside of the post office when she was weeks old, walked past her pram and headed home, she was still asleep when i went back for her.

Haha. Same age but no, I don't think that ever happened to me. Wouldn't it be nice if it were safe and socially acceptable for us to do that?!?!

No, not a normal thing to do.

@Bignanny30

I’ve just remembered something else too from my childhood in the 60s, that horrifies me! I remember mum sending myself or my sister from the age of about 7 to the shop a few doors away for cigarettes and to the off licence opposite our house for a bottle of Sherry - and they sold them to us 😱 🤦‍♀️

I was definitely sent to the shops at the age of 7 or 8 for cigarettes or anything else that was on the list. If it amounted to 2 bags, I often couldn’t carry both together, so I would stop every 50 yards or so, put a bag down, and go back for the second, and so on. I would usually get a telling off for being so long! We also, obviously, had to queue at each shop to get the groceries. Not many supermarkets in the 50’s