General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMaybe more grocery stores and shopping malls should offer free childcare to customers
Perhaps 1hr max per customer? That might stop some parents from leaving their kids in cars while they shop. This won't help the parents who simply forget or are absent minded, but it might decrease the number of parents who do it on purpose.
NCTraveler
(30,481 posts)Have a childcare facility on-site? Parent's aren't going to take the time to "check" their kid in if they are willing to leave them anyway.
dilby
(2,273 posts)If you can't manage a grocery run with children you probably should not be a parent. Here where I live Fred Meyers offers childcare while you shop and I would never use it, I doubt they run background checks and the people working it are probably making minimum wage.
apples and oranges
(1,451 posts)What about the parents who have a harder time controlling their kids?
dilby
(2,273 posts)If you can't control your kids you probably should not have them. People should probably start out with a dog before deciding if they want to be a parent, if the dog is out of control and lacks discipline their children will be worse.
laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)and you cannot possibly predict what your child's temperament will be in advance. And kids with certain disabilities can have more issues with behavior that even the best parent in the world may have problems controlling (and it's not like you can decide if your child has a disability or not). But, by all means, let's judge parents and go back to the days where children should be seen and not heard. The republicans are trying to drag the country back to the 1800's anyway, why not help them along a little.
dilby
(2,273 posts)at grocery story daycare. And if a parent can't possibly manage their child's temperament while grocery shopping what makes you believe that a free day care service in a grocery or shopping center will be any better at it? If a parent is unable to manage their child it would make them an even worse parent to go drop their problem off at the feet of someone else and say deal with it.
laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)I was addressing your comment about parents being unable to 'control' their children and your judgmental attitude towards them. That is all.
dilby
(2,273 posts)Because I was specifically saying parents who are unable to control their children while shopping. Or to be precise the idea that Parents need daycare in a grocery store so they wont leave them locked in hot cars.
laundry_queen
(8,646 posts)Says nothing about shopping in it, or even about controlling kids while shopping. It says that some people shouldn't have kids if they can't control them. Period, no 'shopping' caveat there. Maybe you should edit.
hamsterjill
(15,220 posts)Then graduate to a goldfish perhaps, and then maybe, maybe, maybe a dog.
I do animal rescue and we've actually told potential adoptors before that they might perhaps do this. We suggest this when their application and interview process reveal that they don't know anything about taking care of a living, breathing being.
I'd rather not use cats and dogs for parental training classes.
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)a bit better than you'd think, they have a 75% retention rate. Just saying.
dilby
(2,273 posts)I am pretty sure all of them have them, well I don't remember seeing one at the Hawthorne location but as large as that one is I think it should.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)"If you can't manage a grocery run with children you probably should not be a parent..."
I used to pretend I have absolute knowledge of who should or should not be a parent too.
uppityperson
(115,677 posts)manage their children at all times so everything would be coming up roses? Those came after the joke books about what a pregnancy and delivery would be like.
Swede Atlanta
(3,596 posts)as another poster has noted...I wonder if parents who would simply forget they had the child in the car would remember to remove them and drop them off @ childcare.
I do believe we as a society need to be more supportive of families that includes more than just a bumper sticker. We need to ensure the fetus and mother receive appropriate pre-natal care. We need to ensure the infant (and the rest of the family) have a safe home, access to healthcare, sufficient funds to provide nutritious meals for their families, good, safe schools that turn out young people prepared for the challenges of today. A society that considers the need for paid maternity (shared with paternity) leave. A society that considers no parent should have to work 3 jobs to provide for their families. The list goes on and on.
That said, I believe where child care is provided it should be considered as a value add and paid for by the parents. Having a child or children is an awesome responsibility in ways too numerous to list. As someone who has chosen not to have children but do have dogs I don't expect a business to provide free dog care. If they were to provide that type of care I would expect to pay for it. The same should apply for parents of human children. It would be great to have child care available at more places such as large malls which have the volume to make such a service feasible but the cost needs to be born by the parents and not the public or the rest of the customers.
PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)Retrograde
(10,132 posts)Don't know if it's free or not, but it's there to get parents to spend more time and money in the store.
Of course, parents can and sometimes do forget the kid in childcare!
PasadenaTrudy
(3,998 posts)it would keep screaming brats out the aisles. I'm all for it!
hamsterjill
(15,220 posts)I doubt ours will be a popular viewpoint on DU, but as crowded as the larger grocery stores are in my city, it would be a big benefit to the populace at large if (when possible) either mom OR dad, and not mom, dad AND "x" number of children, did the grocery shopping.
I have nothing against children in general, but many children get cranky, tired and unruly at the grocery store.
PasadenaTrudy
(3,998 posts)I try to shop late at night or early. I'm good at avoiding families