To allow 8/9 year olds to walk around a shopping centre alone (I’ll be in centre) for half hour?

[Egghead81]

My older child has an activity within a shopping centre

I was thinking of my daughter 8.5 and her friend 9 (needless to say telling her mother!) being given a pound each and allowed to go to smiths alone to by some treats and then have a wander in claire’s accessories etc. And then I meet them thirty mins later.

Very sensible girls. Thoughts?

It’s all fine except for the 1 pound thing 😂

£1 to buy a sweetie treat from smiths

It’s what I give mine at the weekends and they love it. Certainly no “is that it?” (And if they ever did )

It’s cute ☺️

I don’t think £1 isn’t enough to spend in a sweet shop, I thought you meant £1 for a trip round the shops.

@Friedasunibrow

I don’t think £1 isn’t enough to spend in a sweet shop, I thought you meant £1 for a trip round the shops.

I meant a packet of sweeties or a chocolate Either of which can be easily bought for £1!

I love the development of this thread to this!
Genuinely tickles me

Yes I know, I thought the question was about a shopping trip not just buying a sweet.

@Egghead81

£1 to buy a sweetie treat from smiths

It’s what I give mine at the weekends and they love it. Certainly no “is that it?” (And if they ever did )

I don't get the £1 protests either OP. They're 8/9. £1 is enough for a chocolate bar or something small. There won't be an abundance of choice for other things but it will teach them better about money/budgeting/making a choice.

My 8 year old hasn’t been to the shop without me yet so I’ve yet to think of a budget 😂

@HumunaHey

The horror expressed at a meagre £1 for a sweetie treat I suspect explains the childhood obesity problems in this country!

I give £1
And I say that’s to buy one thing ie not a 70p Mars bar and a packet of sweets

My children don’t blink an eye!

My children aren’t obese and £1 is fine for a sweet, not so much a shopping trip to Claire’s accessories.

Mars bars are 70p now!??

Not in a million years

@Friedasunibrow

Mars bars are 70p now!??

Outrageous isn’t it?!

It’s is, in my mind they are still 40p! They certainly aren’t worth 70p

@Friedasunibrow

It’s is, in my mind they are still 40p! They certainly aren’t worth 70p

And it could be my imagination, but they seem smaller

Well I wouldn’t put it past them.

Depends on area. I was always sent to corner shop (about a 10 min walk away and a few roads to cross) from about 8 to get a newspaper. In a relatively rough area, with no phone!
I'm in my late 20s now and I know times have changed. But I imagine wouldn't object to those circumstances! But I do think you are mean about only the 1 thing for a pound, most of the fun was to see how many treats you could get for the quid. ;) Call it maths practice too!

One Aero (36g) is €1.35 in Ireland - if you buy in a supermarket. If you buy in a smaller shop eg Spar - I’m fairly sure it would cost more.

Also OP you said in your OP they could go for a wander around Claire’s Accessories. Why would two eight year olds want to go into Claire’s without any money to buy anything. Personally I wouldn’t bring my kids into a toy shop to look around and walk out again.

Same reason I used to love going to similar shops when I was a child
Just to have a mooch. Work out what you want to put on your birthday list. Feel a bit grownup.

Every time we go to the shopping centre she wants to pop to claire’s accessorises. I reckon we have been there two dozen times.

I have bought her something from there once. She knows unlikely but still likes looking.

Same as me and mulberry handbags I suppose

@pinkmagnolias

One Aero (36g) is €1.35 in Ireland - if you buy in a supermarket. If you buy in a smaller shop eg Spar - I’m fairly sure it would cost more.

Also OP you said in your OP they could go for a wander around Claire’s Accessories. Why would two eight year olds want to go into Claire’s without any money to buy anything. Personally I wouldn’t bring my kids into a toy shop to look around and walk out again.

60p at smiths She’d have walked out with 40p jingling in her pocket!

@Egghead81

Same reason I used to love going to similar shops when I was a child Just to have a mooch. Work out what you want to put on your birthday list. Feel a bit grownup.

Every time we go to the shopping centre she wants to pop to claire’s accessorises. I reckon we have been there two dozen times.

I have bought her something from there once. She knows unlikely but still likes looking.

Same as me and mulberry handbags I suppose

This I like actually. It makes things much more exciting when you don’t always get things. I know I spoil my children by giving them loads. I didn’t have the same as a child and I think I have benefited from that.

@Friedasunibrow
It’s is, in my mind they are still 40p! They certainly aren’t worth 70p
I remember the early 70s, when a Mars Bar cost .... wait for it .... 3p!

Yabvu for saying 'sweetie treat' and 'sweetie'