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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to wonder why the whole family go supermarket shopping?

506 replies

turnipfarmers · 01/04/2018 17:00

I tend to shop without my children as it's easier; I get that lone parents have to take their children with them but what I can't make sense of is why you see two adults with several children in tow at the supermarket?

Shopping with children for the weekly shop doesn't seem to be much of a pleasurable experience to me and it's probably not that fun for the children so why do people do it?

OP posts:
puppower · 01/04/2018 22:23

We often do it as a family as we are either coming back from day out or when we go to the high street for soft play/lunch we invariably pop into the supermarket for bits. We do online shop but I’m not organised enough & dont meal plan, children confined to trolley though.

DH & I also sometimes drop them to school/nursery together 🤭. If I’m not working & DH can start late we will do it on the way to the high street & have brunch etc.

Oly5 · 01/04/2018 22:25

I’ve often wondered this too! I see families trialing round the supermarket on a Saturday.. surely there are more fun things to do as a family?! And there’s the internet for online shopping FGS
However, this thread has made me see that some people actually EnJOY it. The mind boggles! But each to their own of course

CookPassBabtridge · 01/04/2018 22:27

I ised to love supermarket shopping as a kid, my mum or dad made it a fun trip.. and I loved choosing food etc. Now we love going as a family (me, DP, 4 year old and 1 year old) We have a good banter between us and the kids love being pushed in the trolley etc. It's also a guaranteed trip out together that happens on a regular basis no matter the weather.

Cracklesfire · 01/04/2018 22:27

DH likes to come along because he’s a sucker for an Aldi specialbuy. I go to remind him we don’t need a chainsaw or another weights set.

CoodleMoodle · 01/04/2018 22:34

We don't go as a family because DH is usually at work when we go, but I like taking DD (4) to the supermarket, and she loves coming with me. It kills a whole afternoon after preschool, she's extremely well behaved (not so much at home...!), we chat and look at everything, we get a treat to share afterwards... I'll miss it when she goes to school in September and I have to go on my own/with her baby sibling.

When she was tiny I used to get a delivery because we lived in the arse end of nowhere with only one car, and DH needed it for work. Now we're more central and he doesn't take it much, so I prefer to do the shopping myself. When said baby sibling arrives in the summer we'll probably go back to having a delivery.

LucyMorningStar · 01/04/2018 22:55

This is a totally alien concept to me. My husband and I very rarely left the house together in general.
In the 12 years we've been together we have done a shop as a couple twice maybe? He never accompanied me to clothes shops.
Can't think of anything more off putting than having anyone tagging along to do shopping to be honest.

LucyMorningStar · 01/04/2018 23:04

Oh and for the record, I don't drive whilst he does. I fucking hate lugging heavy bags full of shopping!
I can and do take my child with me to a supermarket or anywhere really because she's very well behaved.

RebelRogue · 01/04/2018 23:07

@LucyMorningStar so you only spend time together in the house? Do you like eachother?

longestlurkerever · 01/04/2018 23:08

God Mumsnet is miserable these days. Why is doing the school run a massive chore? And why shouldn't people be in a supermarket or other public place with their DC? You might like to split up every weekend and do everything alone but not everybody does. It's not selfish to go to a supermarket ffs. Its just living. Some people seem to spend their whole life in a misanthropic rage.

Sib86 · 01/04/2018 23:14

We go as a family because my baby is 4months and I have a bad back so I genuinely find it hard to push the trolley when it's full and load the car etc. So my husband pushes the pram with baby around, while my six year old wears her heeled and they potter around together while I shop, then I swap with DH at the end when Things get too heavy. Works well for us, it's not the highlight of our week but we still do it as a family and it teaches my daughter about life and the not so fun side of things that mean we have food on the table! I don't see the issue, anything we do as a family is together and a chance to bind, talk about our day, learn new things etc. Smile

RebelRogue · 01/04/2018 23:16

Oh yes, children(and apparently men now) are not to be seen,heard,inconvenience or be in any way in someone's way.
I don't even like kids that much (mostly tolerate my own Grin) and I still can't find it in me to be outraged (or care) by all the things that some people on Mumsnet rage about.

MozzchopsThirty · 01/04/2018 23:18

I'm not raging 🙄 but the school run is a chore

longestlurkerever · 01/04/2018 23:26

How far away is your school? My dd's isn't far, to be fair, but I can't really see what's a chore about it. Stroll with kids, watch them greeting their friends, exchanging pleasantries about their day/plans for the day, brief chat with other parents, done.

CherryChasingDotMuncher · 01/04/2018 23:30

Those of you who say your DHs come with you because they like specific sections/help so you can push the pram around/you don't drive - can the men not just go shopping on their own?

LucyMorningStar · 01/04/2018 23:33

@RebelRogue he either works insociable hours or is too depressed to leave the house. I don't like him one little bit anymore as you can probably tell 😁

RebelRogue · 01/04/2018 23:33

@CherryChasingDotMuncher sure he can,he can also buy everything on the list (and enough random stuff for three more lists,including treats for me) , but sometimes I like to go too and have a look for myself what's there and pick things or buy stuff just because I can(payday).

RebelRogue · 01/04/2018 23:35

@LucyMorningStar ouch.Apologies for the snarky tone.Thanks

Spoog1971xx · 01/04/2018 23:37

Eh? Don't understand this
We all go because it's fun and we can all pick stuff we like? We do it as a family

Obsidion · 02/04/2018 00:01

When I was a child we went shopping as a family, I loved it. We didn't have a car, so when we all went it meant there were 6 pairs of hands to carry all the bags on the two mile walk home! Grin

coladog · 02/04/2018 05:04

God we often pop into sainsburys with the double buggy in tow having been out in town for the morning, we all go together cos we won't have decided what we want yet and want to pick something together and also shove it all under the buggy. Had no idea people would be so infuriated by it.

Effendi · 02/04/2018 06:17

When my brother and I were small (70's) we used to go shopping with my Mum on a Saturday. It was an all day event as we had to drive 20 miles to pick up my DGM.

We had to go because my Dad couldn't be trusted to look after us by himself and he couldn't do the shop as he wouldn't know one end of the supermarket from the other. Old fashioned and my Mum enabled it.

Only since he and my Mum divorced in 1996 after many years of marriage has he learned to shop.

We didn't want to go and I'm sure my Mum would have preferred for us to stay at home. It was such a ball ache.

speakout · 02/04/2018 06:21

Strange thread.

Each to their own.

OH loves supermarket shopping, I hate it.

Some families love bowling or going to church or self catering holidays.
All things I dislike. But I understand that we are all different.

Not sure why it troubles you OP.

Baubletrouble43 · 02/04/2018 06:33

We all go because dp drives and I don't but I'm the one who makes the list and is good at remembering what to buy( he would come back with no loo roll and twenty quids worth of biscuits) also because our twins think the supermarket is a hoot and really enjoy it!

BitchQueen90 · 02/04/2018 06:36

I'm a single parent so I have to take DS. I'd rather do it myself though as I don't drive so I have to carry all the bags on the bus and it's not fun with a 4 year old. I don't like doing it online as they always end up with something missing from the order.

Longdistance · 02/04/2018 06:39

I shop on my own too, and prefer it.
Dh is banned as he throws all kinds of crap into the trolley that we don’t need, and the food bill rockets.
Dds will want anything and everything and love dancing in the aisles, getting in everyone’s way.
I’ll go either in my lunch hour at work, or when dh is home from work and he will do their dinner.
This is a bit of time out for me, now I’m back working full time.

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