wondering what all these families do in town centres all the time?

[LadyMilfordHaven]

( well not ALL the time but more often than not)

yup - occasionally you all need to go in for something or you are on your way back from somewhere/on holiday mooching.

but IME the best shopping ( for say school stuff) is one parent BOLTS in ninja style and is in and out.

TOday there are endless family groups with tired hot whingey kids ( understandably).... is this fun?

[Jinsei]

Oh, and I usually give dd the choice as to whether she wants to come to the supermarket with me or not. 9 times out of ten, she will say yes. Don't ask me why she likes to come, but it's nice to have the company and she's much better at bag-packing than your average check-out assistant!

[SaucyJack]

And I still don't get what there is for you or the OP or any of the other silly posters on here to not buy Dancergirl

Taking the children to the supermarket because you need groceries or going into town because the kids need new clothes is not some weird or outlandish practice that needs any more thought or explanation than just because.

I remain firmly convinced that 100 per cent of the rest of the UK manages to do it on a daily basis without feeling the need to pass comment or start goady threads on baby forums.

And yes, I could wait until my DP gets in from work at 8pm to shop or do it all online just so the little darlings never need set foot in a shop..... but really? Why would I? It's making more of an issue out of something that wasn't a problem in the first place.

[WestieMamma]

Is Ikea not a tourist attraction then?

[Hulababy]

We - me, dh and dd - will sometimes go into town for a wander, coffee, maybe lunch. Dd doesn't winge. She likes town. We will visit other cities and also mooch. It's not all we do - museums, parks, zoo ..... Etc all on the cards but sometimes on a lazy weekend we might head town way to mooch for a bit. Doesn't cost us anything to park in town as DH has a parking permit through his work.

[Hulababy]

Should say though - rarely food shop unless just something quick for that night. I do food shopping online.

[WaitressRose]

my DD regards a walk in the forest/trip to the museum as a form of child abuse - she'd much rather a trip to bloody Claire's Accessories or a cake in Costa Clearly, I've failed Sir Chengin's Worthy Parent test but I think I can live with that ...

[ChocsAwayInMyGob]

Saucy Jack- I agree with every word! well put.

[LimitedEditionLady]

Yes saucy jack,i agree too.what a bloody stupid thread.

[LimitedEditionLady]

Haha yes waitressrose i think my nieces would be much the same.

[Dancergirl]

Fair enough saucyjack. I don't think the OP is talking about what you are describing though. There is a difference between doing what is needed and families hanging around the shops for hours with no particular needs in mind.

Just out of interest, when your dc are old enough to stay home alone, will you let them or do they still have to come with you?

Oh and I think for the vast majority of people who do online food shopping do it for THEIR benefit NOT their dc's. Nothing wrong with that either.

[Floatsyourboat]

Yuck! I hate taking my kids shopping and will go on my own in the car! I don't mind driving on motorways and enjoy a good mooch about the shops but I won't take my kids unless they have birthday/Christmas money to spend or shoes to fit.

[LimitedEditionLady]

How do people know families hang around in shops?are you hanging out there too?

[Thepowerof3]

When I couldn't drive and we couldn't afford a computer to shop online we all had to go shopping en masse, I felt bad enough about myself for not being able to drive and being called a freak would've pushed me over the edge. Occasionally I'd walk the couple of miles to the nearest supermarket so as not to drag the kids along but obviously there was a limit to how much I could carry.

[Soditall]

We take all 5 of our DC into town with us and it's always fine.

They love to help pick out bits we are getting for them and we have a mooch round shops they want to look in and then we all go for a nice lunch together.

[LtEveDallas]

DD enjoys coming food shopping with me. She gets to choose a meal and get the ingredients for it herself (which is why we now add red and yellow peppers to bolognaise). She also knows that I am likely to buy her something from the clothes/toys are if we are at the 'big' Tesco. Oh and she almost always decides she is starving so we have to go to the cafe too because she likes the kids snack boxes. She had learned how to set up the shopping in the most efficient way on the conveyor belt and paying makes her feel 'grown up'

We walk round 'town' as a family because we like it. We tend to have a couple of items 'in mind' but end up buying more - last week it was a pair of quirky dragon candlesticks that DD and I thought were amazing, they don't go with anything in our home or caravan, but were just too cool to leave behind! When she was a toddler DH would would take her to town solely so she could feed the pigeons. The bus was like an adventure for her and it kept her busy for 3 hours when he was going mad staring at the walls.

Although shoe shopping drives me INSANE. I wish she didnt have to come for that.

[Jinsei]

When I read threads like this, I find myself wondering how revolting other people's children are. I mean, can an afternoon in town really be so painful.....?

[ubik]

my sister worked at Bluewater for years and would be at the families wandering around week after week. She was especially shocked at Boxing Day when few of the shops were open but families would just come in to wander round the shops they wandered around when xmas shopping a few days before!

The only time I take the kids is school shoe/uniform shopping and it is pure hell.

[ubik]

Jinsel it's the constant: "I'm tired, I need a wee, I'm hungry, I'm tired, I want a toy, I'm hungry...

[Thepowerof3]

YY to that

[ubik]

Oh God mine ask to go to Ikea

They love Smaland and the fish and chips. And we go for dinner sometimes because we are weak tired from work..

[Astr0naut]

I'm very jealous of all you people who actually have stuff to do in your town centre. In ours we have:

A main road (generally clogged).
Iceland.
Cash for clothes.
Cash for gold.
Discount shops.
Bookies.
Pubs.

Not really a lot for the DCs there. I'll take them to the supermarket near us for a walk and a mooch, but only if I don't actually need anything important. Proper shopping has to be done online or in a shopping park. Taking dcs if I go clothes shopping just ruins it.

[MrsMook]

The point of the thread is about those who do it routinely out of "leisure" but apparently not derviving any enjoyment from the experience. Not those who go and enjoy, nor those who are clearly on a mission (normally those who actually purchase something).

I don't mind the supermarket with DCs. The two I use most frequently don't do online. One has a cafe, so we have a nice lunch out of that, and DS1 is happy with a filled belly. If it was routinely an unpleasant experience, I would go when DH is home. We'll often be there on a Fri evening as a family as the Cafe will feed 3 of us for £8, and as we are there, we may as well top up for the weekend. It's a pleasant enough experience as the supermarket is quiet. 3pm on a Sunday would be very, very different.