Opening something for your child/ren to eat whilst shopping?

[lilima]

Yep I do it,

I have been known to let them eat and apple and take another the same size to pay and ask them to weigh it twice.

Also the deli always gives all the kids a piece of meat, so seeing kids eating in our spermarket is the norm. Gee I love living in such a friendly community!

[littlelara]

I often do the shopping on our way home from picking ds up from oc (which is his lunch time) so I'll usually pick up a packet of cheese and bacon rolls and he'll munch on one as we go through. 2 birds, one stone. Or I'll grab a bag of carrots and give him one of those.
Nothing you have to weigh, and I always make sure the packet gets scanned.
I've never thought anyone might have a problem with it.

[Phteven]

I don't shop with the children very often now and they are old enough to wait now so there isn't really any need for me to open stuff but when I had to shop with 2 toddlers I opened stuff before paying is that's what it took to get around the shops without incident. I think everyone is happier when toddlers are happy and IMO toddlers are too young to get adult concepts like self-restraint and what seems like a short time to us seems a lot longer to the very young.
If it's stealing I guess I go and steal from my local cafes most days

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

Onyx, your closing argument annoys me. It is not the same as eating in a cafe or restaurant: the culture is different. It is more akin to fast food - there you buy the food before you eat, non? In a shop, there is the expectation that you buy before you eat also. In a restaurant, there is the promise of payment, you have informed the staff of your consumption by ordering the food. In a shop there is not that same promise.

Although our local supermarket does hand out free samples of food, which I do let Liebs eat in the shop. They give it away, we don't have to buy it.

[Catastrophic]

Personally, no I don't. Well when I used to go to a supermarket to shop that is But have no issues with families that do.

If my kids wanted something, be it a drink or something else. I would say that they could have it but could not eat/drink it until it was paid for. To me it just feels wrong.

I feel the same... It's not mine until I have paid for it...

[Phteven]

If I eat at the supermarket there is also the promise of payment. I make that when I put the empty wrapper in with my shopping not on a shelf.
If I don't have cash to cover it I won't eat it just in case someone has ripped off my credit card (not that it has ever happened but I like to be prepared for all eventualities lol) but if I know I can pay for it I don't think it matters if I pay before or after I consume it.
As far as I know the law is that you haven't stolen anything until you leave the shop without paying for it.

[Meercat]

If I take DD with me, I buy her a scroll from the bakery outside our shopping centre first and she nibbles on that. It is the only thing that stops her screaming the place down.

I would never let her have something I haven't paid for. Just feels wrong to me!


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[widdly]

When DS was younger I often opened food for him to eat, anything to shut him up while I got the shopping done! No one batted an eye lid and I always made sure that I kept the whole barcode of the item so it was easy for the cashier to scan. Nowdays DS choses a lollie and carries it around til we pay for it, he is not allowed to open it til we get in the car.

[Nelle]

I guess what I want to know is - IS it wrong? Is Kim right, that it's not stealing according to the law? Because I think - if it's allowed, but people feel funny about it, that's not really my issue. I'd not want to break the law (and I guess a bit of uncertainty is what's stopped me, apart from avoiding shopping with kids in general where I can), but if it's just others judging me because I've broken their moral code, then...meh. Maybe I'll start. I defy anyone to tell me my kids are spoiled - my eldest asks for permission to go up a ladder when he lands on one in snakes and ladders!

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

But how does the store know you are not putting the wrapper on the shelf, Onyx? How do they know that is all you have eaten? Yes, by giving an empty wrapper you are honouring the intent to pay, but I am sure others do not do that (and have seen others not do that).

I don't think that giving a child food on demand produces a spoilt child. I just know that I prefer to only give Liebs food that there is no chance of being "stolen". And it's good to teach him to pay for things. That's my parenting choice. (It's also why I usually go with a magazine when we go shopping emptyhanded and he's in a grump.)

[Pandora]

Im not sure.
What I do know is you can't be accused or charged with shoplifting until or unless you leave the premises. They're required to give you every opportunity to pay.
I've never done it but I think with packaged goods that you have every intention of paying for, it's ok.
With stuff that's weighed at the counter then it's not on. I even get cranky at DH for eating the grapes on the display

[Ozziehoffy]

With Elijah, yes, I sometimes do... something like a Freddo frog... Oskar, he is old enough to understand the whole wait til it's paid for concept. Elijah doesn't yet understand that waiting game. I always keep the wrapper and also most of our local Woolies knows us anyway lol. If we're going out for longer periods I take snacks so that there isn't a need to keep a toddler quiet by grabbing a Freddo or the likes. As he gets older and his comprehension changes that will change for Elijah and he'll also have to wait.

[Phteven]

I guess what I want to know is - IS it wrong? Is Kim right, that it's not stealing according to the law?

I'm pretty sure that Kim is right. It's her job to know such things.

With the grapes etc I'm a bit grossed out by the concept that other people (who may or may not have good hygiene) have been picking through them, so as well as the difficulty of paying for them there is also the ick factor.

[Sopdet]

We never did it with the kids and it was usually 4 little ones, until I was deemed old enough to stay home with them while the grocery shopping was done. We would either take something with us, or buy something before we went into the shop, I usually had 2 kids in my trolley and there were 2 in the other trolley, and by the end of the shop both trolleys were usually chockers (there were 7 of us), and one of the little ones riding on the outside, the other in the seat.

With my own, would I do it, no, I find it morally wrong, I won't even open a drink before I've paid for it.

[~clover~]

I've done it for my kids & I've done it for me. I do try to do the shopping when they are all at school or DC, but even then DD3 will start sooking for something & a bikkie is easier than a boob when trying to unload a trolley (she ALWAYS wants it just as I get to the checkout!)

My girls are now older & understand that things have to be paid for first. They aren't allowed to have anything til its paid for. DS will open a milk pop top at the last isle or 2 (thats where they are located... good incentive for them ), or a yoghurt drink thingy. DS is VERY difficult to shop with & sadly by the time its shopping day, my house is all out of snacks to take with me & whats left was eaten while we did everything else in town!

When pg with DD3 there were quite a few times I had to open a drink while shopping to save the embarassment of morning sickness, especially since there is no public toilet close by. With HG its impossible to go anywhere without a toilet close by.

I don't have anyone close enough to have the kids while shopping if they're home & I know from experience that an open packet being scanned is better than the abuse you get if you have a screaming toddler the entire time!

[wysiwyg]

DD often has an apple or a carrot. I always buy two and then just weigh one twice (if doing self service pay - or ask the cashier to weigh the uneaten one twice (but normally they just say it doesn't matter). I would rather do that then buy an apple and let her eat it going round the store because how do they know I have already bought it (same with other food) - is like if I buy a Mars Bar from Target will always eat it before go into Woolworths so it can't look like I am eating it from the shelf. She knows we pay for it at the end because today she was trying to hand the half eaten apple to pay and I had to explain had already paid. Several places I buy fruit and veg from have taster plates out, and often the market stall holders are falling over themselves to give her stuff to eat - and is interesting that she has never shown any interest in wanting to eat anything else apart from fruit and veg while going round the supermarket - so I think she believes is a normal part of shopping. I don't see anything wrong with it really as long as you pay for it before leaving the store.

[Pandora]

Onyx - what about stuff like green beans? I always hand pick them, I never just grab a handful randomly.
Or just eating them before you've washed them is ick?

[Phteven]

It's the eating before washing that is ick.