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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

nursery outing to Argos

61 replies

harrap · 18/05/2011 15:49

to think that a trip to Argos is not what the parents who pay for a nursery would expect?

just been to Argos ( I know that could be considered unreasonable in itself) and seen 2 nursery workers and a group of 2-3 year olds in there. The workers were leafing through the catalogue and the children were standing round in silence. One lttle girl touched a gift card and was told off and another was told off for touching the worker. Other than that there was no interaction at all between workers and children.

I could see how a trip to a shop could be made interesting/educational and fun (even Argos) but the workers weren't explaining anything to the children who all looked rather glum and as I say were totally silent, which initself I thought rather odd.

In the end (I had been there 10 mins) I asked the workers what the idea was and they said they were buying things for the nursery and it was all part of "getting the children involved".

OP posts:
Iggly · 18/05/2011 17:11

How strange! When DS goes to pre-school, he'll be taken on trips to the supermarket to buy fruit etc which I love the idea off. An Argos trip, not so much Grin

squeakytoy · 18/05/2011 17:11

I really dont understand the problem. Its not like they were being taking into pub, or a betting shop.

Surely it is a bit better for the children to go out, get exercise walking to the shops, and some fresh air, rather than spend the day sat in the nursery.

I wouldnt have dreamed of interfering asking why they were in the shop.

Insomnia11 · 18/05/2011 17:17

CM does take the kids to Sainsbury's sometimes but they seem to quite like it and I do know that she takes them and I'm fine with it. To me that's part of the experience of being with the childminder, we'd have trips to the supermarket if I was at home with them.

I think it's a bit different at a nursery though, if they went out on a trip I'd expect it to be in the interests of the kids first rather than just for getting supplies, or worse still personal shopping for the staff. I think the OP was right to ask about it and think it odd.

theglove · 18/05/2011 17:20

I would have raised an eyebrow too OP. Probably the worst thing was they were bored though, it's boring enough for an adult.

Charlie Brooker described waiting for your goods in Argos as 'the worst theatre in the world'Grin

Rosebud05 · 18/05/2011 17:22

Well, it doesn't sound like the most dynamic trip but as a one off it's okay. Argos is a daft place to 'get children involved' though, because you can't actually see any of the goods.

Original poster
harrap · 18/05/2011 17:23

Nobody asked me. I felt sorry for the children and at the risk of enraging you even further it crossed my mind to ring the manager and/or post on a local website, but I don't want to get lowly paid workers into trouble. What I saw was not the end of the world but it was troubling, I don't see why I should feel bad for being concerned, even if that makes me a busy body.

I am genuinely curious though about why this has provoked such hostility in you; other people have expressed other views ( too hasty to judge etc) but have not been rude) can you explain?

OP posts:
KaraStarbuckThrace · 18/05/2011 17:25

Very odd!

DS has been taken by nursery out to the local farm shop. He and the other children identified and help to pick various fruits and vegetables which they took back to nursery and ate! He had a great time! They also did similar in Asda as well.

Original poster
harrap · 18/05/2011 17:28

my last post was directed at Pictish, obiviously, and I am really interested in why you feel so annoyed.

OP posts:
Pictish · 18/05/2011 17:37

Because opinionated stickybeaks get on my wick. Especially when there's nothing worthy of note going on to meddle in, but there they are anyway.

KatieWatie · 18/05/2011 17:42

I don't understand the problem - Argos is fascinating
I just adore everything about it, from the layout of the catalogue to the little calculator thing where you check the stock, to the magic of the products appearing within 5 minutes from a vast warehouse.

As a kid I always wanted to work in an Argos warehouse (still sort of do....).

In another thread on here about a lady not wanting her nursery child to go on a trip to the zoo, one poster replied something along the lines of "a trip to the post office is exciting for nursery children", and that's probably true.

I'd have been well chuffed to go to Argos instead of just having to play in the same damn hall with the same damn dolls every day.

Pictish made me laugh out loud Grin

TheFlyingOnion · 18/05/2011 17:46

YABU

Firstly, whats it got to do with you?
Secondly, you have no idea of the context or what was actually happening.
Thirdly, why get judgey over ten minutes surreptitious observation?

I used to work at a special school and we used to take the kids out for "community studies" once a week. Staff would do their errands at the bank/library/shops and the kids would come too and take part, as much as they could. In some cases, their SN meant this was not much at all. Should these kids have stayed in school and not come?

I think you should have minded your own beeswax - if you had approached me during "community studies" (queuing at the bank) I'd have told you to butt out.

dribbleface · 18/05/2011 17:47

As a nursery manager please call her/him and tell them. I would hope that a good manager would already know how the staff behaved when out but if I had missed something I would want to know. Agree nothing wrong with argos shop for new toys etc (could be quite exciting!) but lack of interaction is not on!

dixiechick1975 · 18/05/2011 17:50

Sounds a good idea badly executed. Did they have a uniform on? Could you ring the manager of the nursery.

DD used to be taken to Morrisons with her preschool. They used to buy a few bits eg ingredients for baking and then have milk and toast in the cafe - she enjoyed it. Always taken as a small group with a couple of workers.

I always used to know if they had been out as there was a sticker stuck to her with the nursery phone number on.

glittercheeks · 18/05/2011 17:51

What grubbalo said - on more than one occasion!

doley · 18/05/2011 17:54

If they wanted interaction with toys and buying etc...they should have gone to the ELC .

Argos is not like ordinary shopping ,I suspect the staff wanted to check out the kettles and sun loungers while they were there .Grin

I would have been Hmm also because I am a Mum and wouldn't like to see any little ones having a rubbish trip .

megasharkvsgiantpiranha · 18/05/2011 18:00

perhaps they were buying a gift for someone who was leaving - fgs there could be loads of reasons.

some of you need jobs yourself - give yourself something to occupy your minds other than others business

hulababy · 18/05/2011 18:00

The idea of the trip is fine. The children go and chose items they need, find them in the catalogue, pay for their oods and then collect them. Lots of differen learning opportunities there in the one short trip.

However, it doesn't seem like the children in the OP were bein involved at all. This is not a good tri, it doesn't benefit the children. The lack of interaction would concern me if I was a parent of one of tose children.

Fortunately we didn't expeerience this lack of interaction in the two nurseries DD attended. She did go on shopping trips and other trips and the staff did their job appropriately.

supermarketworker · 18/05/2011 18:01

My ds goes to private nursery on a morning and they transfer him to the school nursery for the afternoon session , when i picked him up the other week i got handed a Greggs bag with a gingerbread man in it as apparently they had been on a trip out (the greggs is on the same complex) where i often call for a sausage roll on the way to work

supermarketworker · 18/05/2011 18:02

anyway the school nursery teacher was amused by it and i said oh well at least it wasnt a sausage roll .

doley · 18/05/2011 18:03

The counters are quite high in Argos ,little ones of 2/3 wouldn't be able to do/see much without being picked up .

It is not a given that those that work with kids actually like them ,it should be ~unfortunately it is not .

nannynick · 18/05/2011 18:07

I would wonder why they had chosen Argos rather than some other place. One reason could be that the children had chosen things from the catalogue back at the nursery and were just there to pick them up... though not sure that fits exactly with how you describe it from how you saw things.

Children like shopping for occasional things for them, and these days don't get to do it often now that some families shop mostly online.

KatieWatie · 18/05/2011 18:14

I don't see why going to Argos is any more or less educational than going with a nursery worker while they do their postal or banking chores (to use an example from further up).

Banks are really boring. It's not like the children can go count the money or fill in the paying-in slip, and only one of them could put the numbers in at the cashpoint or whatever. At least at Argos there's stuff happening, and products displayed around the place. At a bank you've got leaflets about mortgages, how exciting! Surely children can relate to buying toys a lot more easily than they can to investing in an ISA.

Sorry, I'm not judging the previous poster who took kids to the bank, personally I think both a bank and Argos are equally valid for a trip so I'm struggling with why it's Argos in particular that is causing people to get riled. Is it because it's seen as lower-class, a bit like the other example of Greggs?

Blu · 18/05/2011 18:16

The 'educational' thing was a complete fabrication, I bet, invented to justify nipping out to do some shopping in the face of a nosey passer-by!

They needed or wanted to go to Argos, went with kids in tow, and invented the 'involvement' to satisfy harrap.

doley · 18/05/2011 18:16

I think Greggs would be cool Grin you get to choose a lovely cake !

I think Argos was a bad choice .

doley · 18/05/2011 18:17

Blu exactly my point too .