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

[Phteven]

I don't just put them on the belt in the right order - if I can I pack them too
It's one of the advantages of re-usable bags. You can pop them down on the other side of the till and get the check-out people to pass your stuff to you for the correct OCD packing procedure.

And my poor children are already starting to make sure everything is going on in the right order

We could start a support group for fussy grocery packers.

[Glamourcide]

Hahaha phew, at least now I know I'm not alone with the picky packing! I unload my trolley onto the belt in order of how I want things packed, too It's an unconscious thing these days, but gee do I get some odd looks from people behind me as they watch me dig among the boxes and bags in order to get that sneaky packet of paracetamol tablets to get packed with the other bathroom/cleaning/laundry/non-food items!

[Livinthedream]

Another "non caring about eating unpaid for goods but anal about my packing" poster here

There is nothing I loathe more than un un economical bag packer and nothing turns me on more than a checkout chic who can pack an enviro sack so efficiently that it weighs more than a bag of cement!

I am curious to know are y'all as anal about how your washing gets sorted and hung on the line?

[Jellyfish]

I haven't opened things for myself or my daughter, she hasn't ever complained. Never really thought to and don't think it is something I would do, personally but each to their own.

[~StarBright~]

We could start a support group for fussy grocery packers.

I would like to join this group please! I hate it when i load them up the way i want them packed, and some silly check out operator still manages to put my toothpaste with my milk!!!! So frustrating!!!! I should speak up more!!

[Traveller]

That's one of the reasons I love shopping at Aldi's, I get to pack my own groceries every time!

[Just Me]

It's when they put watermelon on my bread that I get really narky. I stand there and repack the bags if I am not happy with the way they do it.

DH has also given up trying to load the conveyer belt with me too. If he does, I stand and rearrange all the items so they go through the way I want them packed. I hate it when the checkout person takes things from all over the belt rather than just next to them. Drives me batty!

I also get it from my mum

[Erin_25]

Wow I had not expected so many replies, love the turn this thread has taken. Yes I do put items up in order also - it's a whole new thread "best order to pack food"

Must admit when I started the thread I was thinking little ones who don't know how to wait or scream and you just want some peace. Had never thought about opening for them as they got older, I don't much for DS1 so I guess I will slowly phase it out unless desperate.

I actually don't see it as stealing though, you are walking around with a trolley full of food you fully intend to pay for. To steal is to take something without paying - you pay for it in the end be it open or not. But like the idea of grab a apple etc pay first then go shopping...Had never thought of that wish I had, beats a pack of biscuits. I had actually never thought about choosing something that needs to be weighed as price isn't set.

Anyway, great to read all the replies.

[Erin_25]

I forgot to add, I think if you open something you should offer it at the cashiers first and tell them it has been opened, beats them picking them up & half you biscuits falling to the floor

I saw a lady one day give child a pack of smarties, sat in the trolley at the counter eating them then just put then down to be paid for when it was her turn. The checkout person didn't know they were open, picked them up & away they went all over the floor. The checkout person aplogised and offered another pack for free & what did the mum do............said nothing & took the free pack, so didn't pay for what they started eating & got another packet. That I think was very wrong!!

[Traveller]

I forgot to add, I think if you open something you should offer it at the cashiers first and tell them it has been opened, beats them picking them up & half you biscuits falling to the floor

I saw a lady one day give child a pack of smarties, sat in the trolley at the counter eating them then just put then down to be paid for when it was her turn. The checkout person didn't know they were open, picked them up & away they went all over the floor. The checkout person aplogised and offered another pack for free & what did the mum do............said nothing & took the free pack, so didn't pay for what they started eating & got another packet. That I think was very wrong!!

not to mention she was feeding her child Nestle, tut tut tut

[Erin_25]

not to mention she was feeding her child nestle, tut tut tut

[~clover~]

Not that Nestle has anything to do with the thread......

Anyway, I've thought a bit more about it & other than the pop top at the end, its more a matchbox car or toy I'll open to let them have then hand over the packaging. Or standing in line at the check out I might have a mouthful of coke.

I remember when I first saw someone do it. We didn't as kids that I remember, but my brother & I were at school when mum did the shopping with my sister, so who knows. I was standing in a servo I think, waiting for petrol. A lady also waiting to pay opened her drink & had a swig. I was shocked! But then with small kids (more DS & DD3) I started doing it on occasion.

I do what ever makes life easier. I don't care what anyone else thinks. If I do something like this, I'll be really obvious with my packaging & leave it where it can be seen. I don't abuse or neglect my kids, I try not to do the wrong thing. As long as they are looked after why should anyone else care?

As with everything in life. Its a personal choice. I don't get how people get so offensive when the act doesn't affect their lives? I'm not putting it in your hand & telling you to run...

[RainbowBrite]

Occasionally I have done it but it is most likely a drink of water or I have used a tissue or a wipe if I forgot mine.
With 3 under 3.5 am in and out of the shop as quickly as I can...I feed them before we go so don't take snacks and they don't eat as we go around.
Though when I buy polony I will asked for a few slices to be left out (after it is weighed) and the kids will eat that...but you pay for it at the deli counter not the checkout.
I am fortunate enough that none of my little ones are tantrum chuckers so I don't really have to contend with that and I make sure I avoid the lolly isle so they aren't tempted.

I am also a very picky packer and will pack things on the conveyor in the order they should be packed...my XDH just used to just throw them on the counter in no order and it used to bug me no end

[Astrid]

not to mention she was feeding her child Nestle, tut tut tut

Nestle contributes to some of my wages at the moment.

[StrawberryFields]

I am curious to know are y'all as anal about how your washing gets sorted and hung on the line?

Yup - Everything has to be pegged out according to fabric type. I don't know why, its just the way my grandmother always did it. Heavy denims need to go on the outside (if its a hills hoist) and then you work your way in to light cottons and linens, and then i always leave the sheets to another day so they don't get in the way of my fabric system. If its one of those straight lines, the heavy fabrics have to go on the side that gets the most air/sun and then I work away from there.

Though, I can't use the line we have at this house because its always in the shade and is useless, so I haven't had this problem at all lately!

Whats really ironic is that I have never, ever, ever, ever separated whites from colours, or towels from clothes or anything like that. The only thing that gets separated is sheets. Everything else goes in together!

I would like to join this group please! I hate it when i load them up the way i want them packed, and some silly check out operator still manages to put my toothpaste with my milk!!!! So frustrating!!!! I should speak up more!!

OOOOOOh that cheeses me off SO much when they do that! Like, you saw me digging through the trolley to put things on the belt heaviest to lightest and in groups of cold, not cold, and not food, why are you ****ing with my system? Don't put it off to the side for another bag, but it in the same bag as the rest of the **** I put on the belt around it.

Another one I hate is when you go to Coles or Woolies to get like, say 6 things, and 3 of them are cold, and 3 of them are not, and they put them in separate bags even though they could all easily fit in one bag. I just say straight up one bag is fine, because I never buy food unless the next stop is home.

Anyway, just had to add another one for the anal bag packers collective!

[Jewel]

I don't, but that's just me. If I get something for the kids they have to wait until it's paid for. It doesn't bother me if people do.
It's completely up to them.

I tend to load up the groceries they way I want them packed. I don't care if they change it to they way they think it should be packed unless they put the meat with the fruit and veg like I've had done a few times.

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

Ah, ya bunch o' whingers. We get no help packing here - just shove it through and I have to do the lot. With DS "helping" me pack. (He has his own bag, into which goes goat's cheese, crisps, hummous, cucumber, carrots, satsumas... any food he has decided he cannot live without.) Must be sooooo annoying to have it done for you but find there's some non-chilled in with the chilled. I still load up the conveyer belt in the order I want it packed. I hate it when they put cards etc into little bags for me to put in a big bag - they must think I'm stupid enough to pack a birthday card next to ice cream or something, despite the fact the card is next to boxed food/magazines/clothes.

FWIW, I detest whinging in shops. So much so that Liebs knows if he whinges in the shops he gets no special food at the till to take home. And I have left unopened crisps, magazines, pretty much anything he has asked for then played up about. Yes, shopping with a toddler screaming and hitting you is no fun - but I have only had to do that 3 times to date. Better than having to face that every time unless I give him food. He gets his own way about other things, but making the weekly supermarket shop difficult for me is not something I give on. (And when Liebs is having a bad day and I know ahead of time, he gets a handheld computer game from home to play in the trolley. Lots of people not liking that one!)

[~StarBright~]

RE: clothes hanging, on the hills hoist i do it by size.. big things go on the outisde and i work my way in so the teeny tiny socks are on the small line. And if i have done a few loads then they get their own section.. dh work section, towels and regular clothes :-)