Taking a sick child to a supermarket carrying a bowl to be sick in

[Auburngal]

My mum saw this at the supermarket. Child was about 6 at a guess. He looked sick and was carrying a bowl with some sick in it.

Supermarkets are open longer, have food couriers (Just Eat etc) and supermarkets' own food couriers - Sainsburys ChopChop, Tesco Express Whoosh and now supermarkets offer later day deliveries. Plus the mum could have messaged a friend, relative etc to pick up some food items to tie her over til child is well enough. I know the food couriers charge a lot more. We had a customer a few days ago on the food courier service we have ordering one loaf of bread costing 80p in the store and cost them £4.10!

I'm sure the mum wasn't all alone - no contact with anyone who could help. Plus there are local FB groups - Spotted.... I bet someone would respond to her pleas.

Fellow shoppers and my mum were horrified with sight. Not sure if anyone said anything to the mum. My mum was worried that people could pick up the bug the boy was carrying. Mum doesn't know if he touched anything in the store.

Would you drag your DC if they were throwing up in a supermarket?

That isn’t what I was saying at all. I don’t know why the child was ill, it might be a bug, it might not be. Im not interested in arguing about whether the child should have been taken into the shop or not, other posters have taken care of that one - how we possibly know what the mum’s situation was and / or how desperate she was. I was heartened to see recognition from some posters that not all illness is down to infectious bugs. That’s all. I’m not using it as any sort of defence.

Maybe she was going into the shop to get some medicine for the child? I doubt a mums going to drag a sick child around the shop for the fun of it. And who really goes on Facebook asking strangers to get them shopping???

I agree staff should have dealt with that, it isn't hygienic. I find it odd nobody seemingly asked what was going on and if she needed help, but then you run to MN for a moan.

Mind your business 😊

You wouldn’t give antibiotics or calpol to a child who’s being sick though. It would rather defeat the point!

I see the usual MN wild theories for all the possible excusable reasons this woman took her ill child into a supermarket with a bowl containing sick in it, have already been given.

Meanwhile in the real world, the woman probably didn’t GAF about her child having to walk around a supermarket feeling poorly, or that he could pass a stomach bug onto other people, and just wanted to stock up on fags, wine and chocolate knowing she’d be stuck indoors with him.

It’s so unlikely that she wouldn’t have had one of the many food delivery services in her area, if no family, friends or neighbours to nip to the shop, that it’s not even worth arguing over.

That's neglectful. Poor kid.

Absolutely horrible post.

Meanwhile in the real world, the woman probably didn’t GAF about her child having to walk around a supermarket feeling poorly, or that he could pass a stomach bug onto other people, and just wanted to stock up on fags, wine and chocolate knowing she’d be stuck indoors with him.

Bloody hell, talk about jumping to wild theories. This would have been the last thing to come to my mind.. I’m curious why this is the ‘real world’ to you?

Would definitely assume travel sickness or similar. Which, whilst a bit yuck, isn’t harming anyone by being near the child. And whilst I agree that having vomit in a bowl is also unpleasant, surely it’s better than the child vomiting all over the floor of the supermarket for people to step in/the poor staff to clear up?

My DSS is sick quite regularly due to acid reflux, and whilst I would be highly unlikely to bring him into a supermarket with a bowl of sick, I would if I had no
feasible alternative.

Could have a Tesco whoosh delivery, Boots / Sainsbury's delivery on deliveroo along with many other shops. I've had calpol delivered to my house in about 30 minutes before when my son was ill.

How wonderful for you.

It's not an option in many areas, or may be too expensive for those of us on a tight budget!

I have no one. No one close by to help out in a situation like this. No family, and all close friends live too far away to just pop to the shop for me. Not very close with other parents at school or neighbours. So yes, it is possible that for this mum it was easier to go shopping with her poor kid than messaging people asking for a favour, waiting till someone could do it for her, if they could do it... when she could just quickly pop to the shop and have it done with.

And yes, paying for delivery is not an option for some people - especially as same day/ quick delivery costs a fortune.

Well you could, but there are plenty of threads on this very site that would castigate you for doing so. Maybe she reads Mumsnet and therefore will never leave her child alone, let alone when there's danger of vomiting?

Er, yes you can and yes you can

My point is that a poster said she would help a mum she'd never met before if she had a sick child.

So, presumably if this person had got in touch with someone she even knew vaguely - just about anyone - or posted on a local FB group, they would have gone to the shop for her and avoided the need for her to go out at all.

Our local FB group is full of such posts (and I don't think it's because my area is so community minded, it's also full of posts about how bad the local crime is and how the area is going down hill). People help out others if they are asked. I really doubt this mother asked anyone for help. I suspect she might not have wanted or liked to, which means she made a tangible choice to take her sick child out.

I think you're agreeing with me - that the mum had not wanted to ask anyone around her as it was "easier" - rather than impossible.

We don’t have any of those where I live, I wish we did as would be soo much easier.

I think there's probably a space somewhere for those of us who are both horrified at the idea of someone walking round a food shop holding a bowl of their own sick and able to refrain from piling in on the parent.

I do find it inconceivable that someone would have no one to call on.

I hadn't.

Moved into new area. Nofamily. Knew no-one. All neighbours out at work.

Luckily I had Mr Viper who shopped after work when necessary. This woman may be a single parent.

I personally wouldn’t do it, but I’m lucky, I have family and friends nearby to help and can afford a delivery fee. You don’t know her situation, it’s easy to judge unless you are in that position. No mum would want to have to do that but she may have had no choice

If people genuinely have no food whatsoever in the house, can’t use any delivery service and couldn’t ask a soul to help
out what would they do if the adult had an accident or illness and temporarily couldn’t leave the house? what is their plan? Is starvation the plan?

Maybe I did not word it right - in my situation, I could ask for help, and I would get help if needed. But I would only ever do it if I REALLY, really needed it. Like, if I literally had no other option. Asking for help of people you don't know well, and who are not your friends is bloody difficult - also, embarrassing and very, very unpleasant. I would only ever put myself in this position if there was no chance I could manage by myself.

Because your psychological issue trumps this woman's complete lack of support 🙄

The way people are going on, it's as though this woman got up in the morning and thought to herself 'I know - I've not got a lot on, so let's take my vomiting child to the shop for shits and giggles.'

She probably made a judgment call, took a chance, and it went wrong. But of course, the perfect mothers of MN have never miscalculated I'm sure.

And people are less likely to catch something from her child and the sick bowl than from people in their workplace going in sick and coughing and snotting everywhere - but this is actively encouraged on MN.

Sick in a food store is completely unhygienic.