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Original poster

No children allowed in supermarket

678 replies

flashbac · 25/03/2020 11:52

My sister went to Tesco with her toddler and was told no children allowed from next week. Understand this is wise for infection control but what if you're a single parent with tiny kids and can't do online shopping?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
5
amispeakingenglish · 28/03/2020 11:11

LillyJean1
12yrs old is old enough to leave at home, baby can be in sling close to you, or stay at home with 12 yr old. asymptomatic means they have no symptoms , they can get it and some have died. Personally would not want to take children out if I had any other option. At 12 I had a paper round so I am sure your 12 yr old can step up. The government has not been quick enough to act and supermarkets need to step up and have proper slots which are controlled and not put ALL their stock out first thing, drip it in during the day so it's fairer and people won't all want to be there when they open, and more priority deliveries As I have said there are parents out there NOT making sure their children are kept away. Responsible parents do. You need to calm down too , what's the point of getting so stressed about a comment on here? I have a household of 6 to feed and have just bashed the credit card to make sure we have enough for a couple of weeks and plenty of grains and seeds. I started shopping about a month ago when this seemed on the cards and spent a week going to all different shops more recently, which was very tiring with all the queueing. Credit card companies should perhaps be made to half the interest for a year or something as they will make a fortune out of this. When I originally posted I had been out and come across 2 idiot people who were not keeping children away from people, one had let her daughter touch all the shelves and then ice lollies (didn't buy|) and the fridge, then her mouth, in a small shop. Was sounding off in exasperation. No problem with children who are looked after properly and kept away, a mother telling me her 5 yr old is not AWARE is so ridiculous when SHE THE MOTHER, IS AWARE, and should be in control of her child, or not have him on a bike, at 5 he should be able to understand and know what 2 m is, mine would have and its her job to teach him. Anyway it's all going to get tightened up because of people like them and all the kids we have read about here playing together and all the people who think they don't have to obey the new directives . I have also come across residents of care in the community homes out and about, going up to people ............. unaware.

Kbeeb1992 · 28/03/2020 11:54

Im fit and healthy and young im not going to take up volunteers time getting them to go shopping for me when i am perfectly capable of doing it myself and so many others really cant leave the house and need it more than me, i need to take my kids to the shop and there is no other way for me to do it. My two year old will my in a trolley and my 9 year old know to keep a distance.

doghairismyglitter · 28/03/2020 12:30

@amispeakingenglish
12yrs old is old enough to leave at home, baby can be in sling close to you, or stay at home with 12 yr old

Are you for real?? Leaving a BABY at home to be looked after by a 12 year old??Seriously..... 🤦🏼‍♀️

Mittens030869 · 28/03/2020 12:47

amispeakingenglish
12yrs old is old enough to leave at home, baby can be in sling close to you, or stay at home with 12 yr old

Are you for real?? Leaving a BABY at home to be looked after by a 12 year old??Seriously..... 🤦🏼‍♀️

Mittens030869 · 28/03/2020 12:48

Posted too soon. Ridiculous suggestion in this country, it would happen all the time in other parts of the world, but thoroughly illegal here, quite rightly. Hmm

Cissyandflora · 28/03/2020 12:53

At a time like this I would absolutely leave a baby with a 12 year old whilst I did shopping. My 14 year old is looking after 3 younger. This is not a normal situation. Everyone must pull together.

doghairismyglitter · 28/03/2020 13:06

Everyone must be pulling together? Putting that level of responsibility on a 12 year old?! Christ if there was a serious accident there’s a kid that’ll never get over the guilt. Let alone the parent who thought it was a good idea.
Flabbergasted by some people’s ‘suggestions’

Mittens030869 · 28/03/2020 13:06

But a baby can be easily placed in a buggy, and timed around naps. There's no issue with a 12 year old being left at home alone, but I wouldn't leave a 12 year old in charge of a baby (a younger school aged sibling would be okay).

TrishTeres · 28/03/2020 14:34

Fair point. Children are created by a mum and a dad. It is a tragedy when they lose the unity of both their biological parents together. We need to consider more of our values in society to ensure good marriages so that parents stay together. Any amount of accomodating the loss or absence of one parent will never bring back what a child has missed in terms of practical and emotional well-being.

BeetrootRocks · 28/03/2020 14:35

???

BeetrootRocks · 28/03/2020 14:36

What a bizarre post

Waxonwaxoff0 · 28/03/2020 15:26

@TrishTeres what a ridiculous and dramatic post. It's not a "tragedy" at all and I'm a child of divorced parents.

Mittens030869 · 28/03/2020 15:27

Yes, bizarre and completely irrelevant to this thread.

amispeakingenglish · 28/03/2020 15:58

In many cultures that live by me that is normal. My own daughter was left with two of them when the family she was having tea with went to the library, including her friend. You can't judge, and yes, it should be ok for a while, or if they are not mature enough, or you can't teach them leave the older one in the car and have a sling for the baby. You have to be responsible.

amispeakingenglish · 28/03/2020 15:59

btw, it's not illegal here to leave a younger child with an older one, some 12 yr olds in some cultures have their own babies.

Kbeeb1992 · 28/03/2020 16:11

How have we got fixated on 12 yr olds?! My daughter is 9 and thrs no way i would leave my two year old with her alone to go shopping now everybody had an elder sibling to take care of the younger ones .

BeetrootRocks · 28/03/2020 17:05

'some 12 yr olds in some cultures have their own babies.'

Wtf? This is not a good thing Confused

Blackfairie · 28/03/2020 18:00

Maybe dad is a key worker and is at work most of the time when the shops are open as they have limited there open hours or is too exhausted to do the shopping @CaptainButtock

Willow2017 · 28/03/2020 18:30

Some 12 yr olds in some cultures have their own babies.
And this is ok? This makes leaving kids alone while parent is out for goodness knows how long ok how?
We are talking about uk where this is definately not ok nor is it ok to leave very small kids on thier own while a parent goes shopping.

BeetrootRocks · 28/03/2020 18:44

The change in view around this is understandable but interesting to see.

4 weeks ago all this would be seen on MN as irresponsible/ neglectful. Yes times have changed and I always felt the advice from NSPCC was unrealistic and over cautious. Yet now we have eg on this thread a woman with a child I think about 10 with SN and a little one being told to leave one in the car...

It concerns me how quickly, even on MN which is a site predominantly for parents and mostly women, the idea that children should somehow be vanished for the 'greater good' has taken hold.

From other links it seems that children are less likely to spread this than adults. So many people applauding policies that will make life much harder for a group already disproportionately likely to be in poverty + arguably in for a difficult time (having young kids can be difficult enough at the best of times) is troubling.

I think we will see a big demonisation of children, and people with MH issues as well. Things are not heading in a good direction. I also suspect these things will not be reported with news outlets asked to focus on positive stories etc.

PotholeParadise · 28/03/2020 23:21

Asda has made a statement on social media that they won't be banning children from their stores.

BeetrootRocks · 28/03/2020 23:54

That's good.

This whole thread was about 1 branch of Tesco on IOM. And has worried a lot of single parents.

What is more worrying, and this is my personal view, is that

Loads of posters said good and children should be banned from supermarkets (all shops?) across the board

That (in line with the IOM Tesco manager) this would make things 'difficult' but people would have to find a way....

Suggestions of home delivery, using local shops, even though many areas have no delivery slots and having lone parents shop in small stores will mean less food for single parents (who are disproportionately in poverty), often don't have fresh food, let alone formula.

The reaction against lone parents and also, on other threads, people with mental health issues is troubling. The existing biases in society seem to be developing into, something with even worse consequences.

Xenia · 29/03/2020 08:35

The UK does not have a law about hte age when you can leave someone babysitting by the way so it is not "illegal" as stated above. Parents rightly decide who is responsible enough. Eg my daughter at 12 very mature would actually have been better left with her twin baby brothers than many older babysitters and girls at 12 are in some ways 2 years older than boys too - not that I am saying all boys are immature.

However if someone just turned 12 and was a bit of a silly thing head in the clouds not very responsible then I would certainly not be leaving them with babies.

In emergency times parents have to do what they have to do to get the family fed.

Cherryade8 · 29/03/2020 08:44

@TrishTeres I'm a single parent, my kids are emotionally balanced but thanks for worrying on their behalf Hmm

aurynne · 29/03/2020 09:29

So many people on this thread have no family, no friends, does not trust a single neighbour... Forgetting the issue of shopping... what exactly are their children going to do if the lone parent gets sick?

If you are really THAT isolated that not a single soul would help you, isn't this the time to start reflecting about how to change that, even if it is only for the safety of your own children?