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

[Party-of-five]

Mostly my kids have a squeezie yoghurt or a cracker....or a lolly who am I kidding I have a 1 and 2 year old I hate food shopping with them I give them what ever keeps them quiet Im that frazzled mum you see that makes you think "why is she not doing online shopping??"

[beckoes]

i can see that people have very strong views on this...but i have to admit that 99% of the time DD will have something when we go around. i always pack snacks, but normally by the time we are doing the food shop there isnt much left in the house to take as a snack and i will say before we leave ''il have to grab something while we go round'' sometimes a roll from the bakery out side the shops or a sushie roll, but if she doesnt want those, something fromthe supermarket gets opened.
i would not give her something that has to be weighed, only things that can be taken out of a packet and the code still scanned. squeezie yoghurt. cheese and crackers. but never the treats we get, like little chocies or cakes/biscuits. not that that changes anything, its still eating something that isnt yet yours to eat...but i still do it.
dh isnt keenon doing this, but if shes hungry...and bored...and i dont have something in my bag for her, opening something sure beats a giant melt down. maybe it is lazy or immoral....but i still do it.
i always explain to the check out person that i opened it for dd and ive NEVER had one person tellme i shouldnt do it!

[sloane]

i don't do it - i take some snacks for DS in case he's hungry/needs distraction. however, i don't have a huge issue with it as long as the item is paid for before leaving the store. i'm not so keen on it being fruit though & never even taste grapes myself before buying. maybe i'm just a bit loose with my morals though

[krysalyss]

I don't really do it but don't have a problem with it either if it gets paid for at the end. I don't think fruit etc can be adequately counted if they have been consumed unless they are priced singly and not by the kg.

[Phteven]

Onyx - I am curious to see the reply but regardless of the answer this thread is an etiquette thread, a question was simply asked if people are ok with it, seems most are and some are not ... seems you're after a definitive answer to justify what you and so many others do? I could be wrong though.

Really it's academic for me because my children are long past being toddlers and no, I don't need to justify anything. I'm not Hyacinth Bucket so if people don't like the way I live my life they can kiss my buttons (trust me, lots of people don't like the way I live my life).

What bugs me is moral absolutes - statements about it being immoral and stealing and unjustifiable. Other people don't always share our moral code and that's ok. People are free to live by whatever morals they want but when they try and impose them on me that bugs me. Just so long as I'm not infringing upon your rights what does it matter?

Etiquette isn't absolute - what is rude in one culture isn't in another and in our family what is acceptable for one age isn't for another. For now I'm happy if my children are eating their lettuce. Never cutting it can come later. Ditto for soup. If they eat it that's enough. Spooning away is a lesson for another day. I might mention it in passing but I'm not going to press the matter because a happy mealtime is more important than perfect table manners at this time.

As for expecting a toddler to show self-control.....
If a toddler has self-control that's great for its parents but personally I was more comfortable with letting mine run a little wild.

Our shop hands out lots of treats and tastings if you go on the right days. If this was a problem for other bazillionaire grocery chains perhaps they could follow suit.

Yep, I miss going to markets and skipping lunch because the kids are so full of samples and handouts that they can't another thing.