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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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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:

llangennith · 01/04/2018 19:01

My DM was a SAHM, DF at work all week, we kids at school, but she still insisted we all go shopping every single Saturday. This was in the days before supermarkets so it involved queuing at several shops. Took ages. Even as a child I couldn’t understand why she didn’t do the shopping when we were at school and so we could go somewhere better at the weekends as my friends’ did.
Never made my DC come shopping with me but when they were teenagers they started to insist on coming with me so they could add their preferred items to my trolley
These days I’d take advantage of on-line food shopping.

TheJoyOfSox · 01/04/2018 19:06

Maybe the family have only one car, dad would rather tag along to do the weekly shop as opposed to staying at home with the kids.

Mum doesn’t have her own wage, as a full time parent, so dad pays, mum brings dad.

They like doing their shopping together.

The timing that suits their shopping day means they come together.

Shopping day means the kids get to choose their treats for the week as their reward for making their bed or not squabbling.

The kids don’t see much of dad all week due to long working days, and dad wants to be with both his kids and his wife.

Some parents like to ask the entire family “what shall we eat on Sunday?”

ziggiestardust · 01/04/2018 19:07

OP this is something I don’t get either! I shop online a month in advance and pin meal plans to the fridge. I can go online the night before the shop comes and add bits and bobs we need that week to it (extra fruit, toilet paper, shower gel, that kind of thing) if needs be. I have one DC; there is no way I would take him for a full supermarket shop. Far more trouble than it’s worth; and a waste of valuable time.

whichwayisitnow · 01/04/2018 19:07

I am always puzzled why whole families treat Ikea as a day out.

Thundercatshoooo · 01/04/2018 19:10

It's not that odd is it? We only have 1 car, I'm on maternity leave and my husband works v long hours (has the car). We often go food shopping on a Saturday when we are out doing other stuff anyway, we usually nip on the way home. We could technically take our 2 year old and 9 month old to my parents but we'd be driving around in circles when we could be there and back. Online shopping has been a bit hit and miss from previous experience. We don't all go together because it's fun, more it's the only chance we get really.

ImogenTubbs · 01/04/2018 19:10

We sometimes all go together because we haven't seen each other very much during the week and are going to combine the shop with lunch out or something.

Dani240 · 01/04/2018 19:14

Because it's a bit of a boring miserable job which neither of us wants to do alone. Together we have a bit of moral support and can talk about what to get. Our kids are still very small, but they like putting things in the trolley and naming all of the vegetables. Didn't realise we were upsetting you so much up. It's easier than going by myself with the kids during the week.

GoJohnnyGoGoGoGo · 01/04/2018 19:15

I can't drive and I would like to actually visit the supermarket once in a while. We do mostly shop online but it's nice to look around the shop to see new things. If I want to leave the house with DH the driver my kids have to come too. We both work ft and have no local family so that's how it is.

LifeBeginsAtGin · 01/04/2018 19:16

Nobody actually likes food shopping.

LexieLulu · 01/04/2018 19:16

Sorry! I'm a family who go grocery shopping together.

I don't drive, and my DH always forgets things. So we usually pop to the shops very early at the weekend when its not busy

RosaBaby2 · 01/04/2018 19:17

I’ve not read the whole thread and I’m sure it’s already been said but I think it’s a valuable experience for kids. My son enjoys it (he’s 10 now) holds the list and ticks it off, checks the price per 100g/kg for working out the best deals etc he’s learning as we go!

formerbabe · 01/04/2018 19:17

Mine are hard work in the house and instantly become more civilised when you take them out

Same!

longestlurkerever · 01/04/2018 19:21

IKEA is totally a day out! The kids love the crèche, I have a cup of coffee in peace overlooking the north circular and pretend I venice , then we have a meatball tea in the cafe and come home with a load of tealights and a billy bookcase. It's not Disneyland, granted, but much of life isn't, imo. Again I wonder what other people's lives are like. Don't other people ever have empty weekends?

EssentialHummus · 01/04/2018 19:21

I 💕 grocery shopping. It can't be just me? tbublush

Nope, I like it too. I WFH and I see it as a nice little break from work. Now that I have six month old DD I often do a lap of Sainsbury's with her to pre-empt whinge o'clock crying.

gluteustothemaximus · 01/04/2018 19:22

IKEA is a cheap day out for us too. In fact, we did this last Saturday and had a great time

EssentialHummus · 01/04/2018 19:22

(But - to answer your question OP - DH is a total brand snob and the idea of taking him grocery shopping with me really doesn't appeal!)

RebelRogue · 01/04/2018 19:24

Ohhh we love Ikea!! As a family.

DaisyDrip · 01/04/2018 19:25

We always shopped as a family. I don't see what's so unusual about doing so. There are loads of families in supermarkets. Now my DC take their spouse and DC.

I have to shop alone now mostly and it's just not the same. I love it when on the odd occasion one of my DC comes with me.

HeadingForSunshine · 01/04/2018 19:29

Each to their own but when mine were small we did it on Fridays. When they were at school I did it on Fridays. When I went back to work deliveries were going and it was eiveredbon Fridays and the au pair unpacked it.

DC grown up and perfectly capable of food shopping and cooking.

I agree with Barbara up thread though. Husbands trailing round dress shops are a zillion times worse.

Sparklingbrook · 01/04/2018 19:36

I don't go to IKEA alone or accompanied. Shudder.

GummyGoddess · 01/04/2018 19:37

@missmouse101 We don't do it everyday! I usually pick DC up after his lunch to take him home for a nap. DH works full time but when he has the day off he meets me there, it's really nice to spy on DC and see how happy he is playing and then see him beam at us when he realises it's home time. DH doesn't normally get that as he deals with drop off instead.

We just tend to do things like that together if possible, I didn't realise it was unusual until this thread! We also both take DC to swimming lessons even though only DH gets in the pool, I just sit on the side and watch.

scaryteacher · 01/04/2018 19:38

Rosewhitetips There is a method to packing your shop in the correct bags, so fridge freezer stuff together, dry goods together,tins etc and fruit and veg last. It makes him useful at packing when he's home, and ensures he knows what he's doing at uni.

You may not have teenage boys...it is worth training them early as they don't think that the eggs might break under the weight of 5kg of spuds for example. Explaining meal planning, batch cooking etc has helped him. He will buy what is cheap or a bargain at the supermarket and cook with that; not a bad skill to have imo.

He's come home for Easter, baked bread, cooked a couple of meals and collected exactly what I wanted in Sainsbury's in the 45 minutes I got in there en route home to Belgium after collecting him. He coped well at uni, and made my day when he phoned and told me in a shocked voice that his housemates didn't eat anything green!!

Going to the supermarket from an early age has,shown it isn't just wife work, and that you can pick up unexpected offers, reduced stuff etc.

expatinspain · 01/04/2018 19:41

We tend to go together, although it does tend to be a more pleasurable experience on the rare occasion it's just me and DP .

Doryismyname · 01/04/2018 19:42

Hate grocery shopping, it’s exhausting. Our local supermarket is huge and they keep me moving stuff so that you have to trawl for ages to find things. It’s a couple of hours I can spend better elsewhere. Online shopping is much easier, it allows you to meal plan and stick to a budget rather than being tempted by in store offers.

Sparklingbrook · 01/04/2018 19:43

I would worry if my teenage boys didn't realise you don't put potatoes on top of eggs when shopping.

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