to think debenhams wall of sweets at the till in the childrenswear dept is disgraceful.

[mairmaid]

Don't often go shopping but found myself next to a wall of sweets in Debenhams childrenswear dept. Is this a new thing? I asked them if there was not some legislation with respect to sweets at tills. Their response "We're not a supermarket". Was there not a reason why legislation was recently stopped to reduce pester power at supermarket tills? Does it make it ok in debenhams just because you don't need to buy clothes as regularly as food?

"Stores know that parents won't risk a showdown with their child in a busy queue and will just say yes"

What a load of nonsense. I couldn't give a rats arse if my child screams for sweets when I say no. They still don't get them.

What expat has said times 1,000,000.

I don't ever recall there being a problem with sweets being at the till when I was little. I knew that I wouldn't get them and that no meant no.

YABU - We don't need any more legislation!

I cannot believe the smug comments here...the OP is right! Why should we HAVE to say no!

If i go to buy my child a dress I shoud not be confronted with crap she will of course want.

It's bloody cheeky! I don't get this in H&M or anywhere.

Do you buy your child everything they ask for then?Because as ou wander through a store there will be many things they want but can't have. For example the huge range of Hello Kitty beauty stuff that is always near the tills at H&M.

It's not that difficult to say no.

So what do you say to your child if they want five dresses, or high heels, or sweets in the supermarket?

haha x post soup!! :)

You don't HAVE to say no, Wimple. You can say the opposite, that's your perogative, but if you do then you have nothing to complain about surely?

Your child sees sweets at the till, asks for them, you say yes. You have made a choice and the shop have made a sale. Win-win, yes?

How about the pet hair removers often near the till?

The other day we walked past some kids selling drugs, as I've never said no to my dcs I just let them carry on......oh how we laughed when DS1 (aged 8) smoked his first crack pipe. I mean am I seriously expected to take the tough parenting stance of saying No? How is my child supposed to grow up in the real world where they get everything they want?

Surely they only have a 'showdown' if they know that having a showdown results in getting their own way. I've never bought sweets from the checkout and haven't heard a peep out of any of my dcs on the subject because they know I am mean.

Debenhams is shit.

I'm waaaay too competitive poor to shop in Debenhams...

Debenhams is cheap shit that is overpriced.

I don't thing YABU at all. If I go to Tesco, then I know they sell food and much as I don't like it, I expect the sweets to be there and am ready to say no (and like the rest of you, no does mean no). However I don't expect it in Debenhams clothes department and it is too easy to get caught out.

A similar thing happened to me recently in Watersones. I queued up, was paying and turned round to see DS2 (nearly 2) munching on a Lindt egg that for some reason they had on display about 1m from the till. Yes OK totally my fault for not keeping him on a better leash, but I didn't expect a bloody bookshop to be selling chocolate so thought he was ok to stand near me where I could hear him. I still resent paying for it! And yes as suggested I am now boycotting the shop until after Valentines day when apparently they will stop selling chocolate again and will buy all my books online.

YANBU

Okay it's a marketing ploy and lots of shops do it but it doesn't make it right does it?

I can and do say no to my DS and he too knows that no means no. He's 13yo old now, so I don't really have to deal with this kind of problem, as he has pocket money to spend blah blah blah. If we're honest though, with younger children it's not so easy all of the time. We can of course all say no, that doesn't mean it's okay to have huge displays of this kind in a childrens wear section.

It may well have been only 'guidelines' that were given out with regard to supermarkets but there was obviously seen to be a need for it, otherwise they wouldn't even have bothered to issue them.

IMO it is, as the OP says, 'pester power' selling and it's sneaky.

Yes it relies on weak parents.....I'm not a weak parent.

"If I go to Tesco, then I know they sell food and much as I don't like it, I expect the sweets to be there and am ready to say no"

Does saying no require mental preparation? I would have thought it was easier than "okay", less letters, less syllables...?

Oh god, you know what I mean.

No, I don't know what you mean. The world is full of stuff we want but can't have. It's my job as a parent to teach my kids that - not businesses, not government, not schools, ME.