Kids at Grocery Stores during COVID

[Anonymous]

I don't bring my son to the store but I didn't bring him to the store before COVID. Grocery shopping with a kid is a pain in the butt. I can go to the store when my Husband is home or vice versa. DS does have play dates with a few friends and we go the creek and to the pool when there are not many people signed up.

[Anonymous]

Small children are a PITA in grocery stores particularly the stores with the kid-size shopping carts.

[Anonymous]

I keep mine at home and now my husband does most of the shopping or I just order on line. My kids do miss their visits to Target!

[Anonymous]

We have not brought the kids to grocery stores and we are pretty liberal. It's more of a hassle than a covid concern for us. We have never stopped grocery shopping all this time, and we go 2-3 times a week even. I don't think it's a big deal taking kids to grocery stores. Mine are just rowdy.

[Anonymous]

My boys love shopping with me, they ride happily in the Wegmans “tractor cart”, they’re pleasant and well behaved, and restored a sense of normalcy. So yes, they shop with me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While shopping at Wegmans today I noticed a definite increase in the number of kids shopping with parents again. Now I totally get the need for single parents and other unavoidable reasons but this definitely seemed to go beyond that. My kid begs to go to the grocery store. It used to be our thing every week and it gave her a chance to get out of the house and DH a break to do things around the house or yard. I go on my own now. I’ve reverted back to going weekly but have not yet brought the kid.

I’m of the mind that if we want the kids to get back to school any time soon we all need to avoid public places as much as possible. But if kid is masked and we keep distant as I usually do (except for the jerks who have to get all on you because they’re impatient) is it really that bad?

Sometimes people need groceries and can’t afford to pay for childcare or delivery fees. Are you stupid or something?

OP here. Read my post. I acknowledge this. And I’ve definitely seen kids here and there throughout the pandemic. But the sheer amount of kids there today suggested this went beyond the “didn’t have childcare” crowd.

I'd guess that people who needed childcare to go shopping were more likely to use delivery earlier in the pandemic. But delivery is more expensive than buying in person, and has other disadvantages (issues with substituting items, etc.). So I'd guess that some people are returning to in-person shopping, and many of those people will need childcare.

Personally, I don't bring my kid to the store, because I just think it's easier for everyone to maintain distance if there are fewer people in the store, and because she's prone to touching stuff we don't buy and the stores are asking people not to do that. I can tell her not to, of course, but better to just avoid the issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:While shopping at Wegmans today I noticed a definite increase in the number of kids shopping with parents again. Now I totally get the need for single parents and other unavoidable reasons but this definitely seemed to go beyond that. My kid begs to go to the grocery store. It used to be our thing every week and it gave her a chance to get out of the house and DH a break to do things around the house or yard. I go on my own now. I’ve reverted back to going weekly but have not yet brought the kid.

I’m of the mind that if we want the kids to get back to school any time soon we all need to avoid public places as much as possible. But if kid is masked and we keep distant as I usually do (except for the jerks who have to get all on you because they’re impatient) is it really that bad?

Sometimes people need groceries and can’t afford to pay for childcare or delivery fees. Are you stupid or something?

OP here. Read my post. I acknowledge this. And I’ve definitely seen kids here and there throughout the pandemic. But the sheer amount of kids there today suggested this went beyond the “didn’t have childcare” crowd.

I'd guess that people who needed childcare to go shopping were more likely to use delivery earlier in the pandemic. But delivery is more expensive than buying in person, and has other disadvantages (issues with substituting items, etc.). So I'd guess that some people are returning to in-person shopping, and many of those people will need childcare.

Personally, I don't bring my kid to the store, because I just think it's easier for everyone to maintain distance if there are fewer people in the store, and because she's prone to touching stuff we don't buy and the stores are asking people not to do that. I can tell her not to, of course, but better to just avoid the issue.

Yes, this is what happened with us. For what would be a $100 grocery order in store ,we were paying nearly $200 each time. It was ok for a few months but we can’t do it forever and it doesn’t seem like this is going anywhere , so my kids have been in the store a few times but they wear masks and they are pretty shy so they’re not acting out or touching everything in the store.

[Anonymous]

We order groceries to be delivered. My kids are 7 and 8. If we couldn't get deliveries, I would leave them home alone. I left them home alone when I had to go to an emergency doctor appt.

I will not be taking my kids to anywhere indoor. ESPECIALLY when it's not absolutely necessary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We order groceries to be delivered. My kids are 7 and 8. If we couldn't get deliveries, I would leave them home alone. I left them home alone when I had to go to an emergency doctor appt.

I will not be taking my kids to anywhere indoor. ESPECIALLY when it's not absolutely necessary.

Children's mental health is important too.

Please consider it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We order groceries to be delivered. My kids are 7 and 8. If we couldn't get deliveries, I would leave them home alone. I left them home alone when I had to go to an emergency doctor appt.

I will not be taking my kids to anywhere indoor. ESPECIALLY when it's not absolutely necessary.

Children's mental health is important too.

Please consider it.

So agree. Kids are just as prone to depression as adults. I take my kids to the store and will continue to do so. They wear a mask in every store we visit.

[Anonymous]

I love how unimaginative people are. Kids need to get out of the house = a trip to the grocery. You're probably the same people who go to the shopping mall just to walk around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We order groceries to be delivered. My kids are 7 and 8. If we couldn't get deliveries, I would leave them home alone. I left them home alone when I had to go to an emergency doctor appt.

I will not be taking my kids to anywhere indoor. ESPECIALLY when it's not absolutely necessary.

Is that even legal? I have a seven-year-old, and I would put a mask on her and take her to the store before I left her home alone. Yes, COVID is bad, but so is child neglect.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We order groceries to be delivered. My kids are 7 and 8. If we couldn't get deliveries, I would leave them home alone. I left them home alone when I had to go to an emergency doctor appt.

I will not be taking my kids to anywhere indoor. ESPECIALLY when it's not absolutely necessary.

Is that even legal? I have a seven-year-old, and I would put a mask on her and take her to the store before I left her home alone. Yes, COVID is bad, but so is child neglect.

It’s probably not legal. But, it was quite normal when we were growing up in the eighties. I was a latch key kid starting in fourth grade. Times have changed so much with what is acceptable.

[Anonymous]

If the kid wears a mask and social distances, I'm not sure what the problem is. I guess if the kids were running around yelling and being disruptive, but honestly that's never okay at the grocery store.

Some of the parents with kids at the grocery store might be single parents, yes. Others might be married but the other parent works out of the house. With daycares and schools closed, that means you have to either get groceries delivered or take the kids to the store. There's also just a ton of other logistics. Maybe they live far from a grocery store and it is easiest to do the grocery run when they are already out with their kids doing other things. Maybe they usually rely on relatives or a nanny for childcare but that person is sick or can't help that day.

Honestly, if we're going to police mask-wearing children in stores, we should also address:

- Adult couples/roommates/friends who go to the store together and walk around talking to each other the whole time. More talking in indoor spaces is bad right now (more droplets, even with masks) and it's just unnecessary. Make a list, send one person.

- The many, many adults who wear their masks incorrectly in grocery stores. Something I see constantly is adults who pull down their mask to talk (to the roommate they brought with them for some reason, or to someone who works there). This is bananas. The mask is most important when you are talking to another person! Why is this so hard for people to get. Also lots of people wearing their masks under their nose.

Point is, I wouldn't think twice about a child in a mask at the store. I'm much more likely to get Covid from the two 20 somethings on their way home from brunch in an indoor restaurant, gabbing and laughing in the dairy section with their masks around their chins.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love how unimaginative people are. Kids need to get out of the house = a trip to the grocery. You're probably the same people who go to the shopping mall just to walk around.

My kids actually like going to the grocery store and yes I'm going to continue taking them.