Did you bring your child BF shopping?

[gillenkl]

Sort of....I shopped from home on my computer and the kids were in the house sleeping....

 

[RobinFabulous]

This was my oldest's first year going. She wanted to go and woke up when my sister got here. It's not cold here, and I still made her wear a sweatshirt and jacket. We weren't shopping for her either ;-) She's 11. We left at 4 and were back by 10. She took a nap that afternoon :-0

 

[wdwmom0f3]

I did bring my oldest child who is about to turn 17 next month, but the others stayed at home. I needed her to stand in line for a laptop, while my mom and I waited for one too. Without her, I couldn't have bought three. We had a ball too, but she is still sleeping it off, almost two days later.

 

[Robinrs]

I brought my "child" on his FIRST BF this year... he's a huge 16 yo "adult".

I wasn't getting any of his things, all of his stuff was purchased online. I still believe in surprises!

He had a BALL!! We went to Sams Club first where I used to work and got free breakfast. That was good enough for him. Running around to the stores was fun, we hit Office Max, Target and Big Lots. Target and Big Lots had GREAT deals on dvds, which he spent HIS money on.

This is the kid who would rather DIE than come into the store with me shopping. He asked me why didn't I take him before? I told him my ToysRus nightmares that he NEVER knew about for all these years.

It's great having him as my new BF buddy!

 

[rockundergirl]

I didn't ( my son is 4) but I don't judge those that do. I think its important we think before we judge, I'm a single mother, with a very small family.. ( just an elderly mother) I have brought my son to the dentist with me, oil changes .. work.. pretty much anyplace i have to go when my mother is not up to watching him and its non school hours. I know black Friday shopping is not something you must do, but maybe its someones best bet to get clothes for school , or make the most of something like a 100.00 dollar christmas budget. Sorry to be a Debbie downer lol.

 

[gymboqueenkaylee]

Nope, My girl was at home snuggling with dad. She didn't even know I was gone shopping from 1130pm-8am. She didn't even get out of bed until 10am Friday morning.....lazy girl! She would have hate shopping. She hates crowds and there was NO way I would have subjected her to the madness (especially at Toys R Us). It would have just been unsafe IMO.

 

[sylvenmaid]

No way! First it's b/c we buy his presents and also the crowds are just too crazy. I have done WM for the last 3 years, and this year was the worst I have ever seen! It was madness and much worse than when they wait until 5AM. Mine have always let people in so no worries of being trampled. Almost all the good stuff was gone while I was waiting for some of the deals. I'm so glad I didn't want any of the hot electronics or tv's. I left him sleeping at my mom's while hubby and I went shopping. I also went to Walgreen's and was the first shopper in. LOL! We bought the BOGO webkinz which will be great stocking stuffers.

 

[pal-mickey]

I said yes, but this is the first year and my daughter is 16. It was a big help having her there and she was a much better companion than my DH was last year. My 11 yr old wanted to come with us, but that would have been too much for her. She has attention problems and I could not imagine her standing still for 2 hours on line.

 

[disneychrista]

I remember a kid around the age of 7 seeing something in his parents' cart. He picked it up and the mom snatched it from his hands, threw it in the cart underneath something else and yelled, "That's one of your presents! You're not supposed to see that!"

Ummm... Leave him home with your hubby so you can shop and your child can be surprised! I just don't get it.

It could be that there is no DH and she "had" to bring him. I remember shopping for my kids with my kids there, hiding and distracting them...as a single parent, you do what you have to do.

 

[ptmmg]

I dont think you can count a16 yo as a kid anymore.wouldI bring a child out shopping (under 13) after midnight No they belong in bed!no bargain is worth exploiting a child to that!

 

[ajh88]

I didn't this year, but I have once in the past. When DD was 2 or 3 we were the "bad" parents with our kid out shopping. We went to Best Buy (did NOT stand outside waiting though!) and my DH held her (asleep) on his shoulder for about 2 hours while he waited in line to check out. By the time we got to the check out, it was a normal wake-up time for her and she was good for the rest of the day.

Traditionally, BF is the day for me and my sister to go out shopping. I did tell DD that maybe she could go next year, when she'll be 9, but that maybe it would be the following year. I personally think it will be kind of fun to have her with me shopping and she will think it is fun to buy presents for other people.

 

[mommycrawford]

She stared at the ****-tube while I stared at Amaz*n, BB, Wally's, and the like....So, yes and no

With stampedes last year, and a firm belief in Santa being smart, I would not want to take chances! (I don't ever love shopping though!) In NYC all the aisles are really close together, so crowded barely requires a lot of people.

 

[sl_underwood]

My oldest dd and I go every year, have since her grandmother died and she came to live with me. This was a tradition for her and important to her as it was something she did with her birth family. My other kids dont do bf shopping. They are not interested at all. We do go pick them up after shopping with dd for breakfast at Ihop which is one of our family holiday traditions.

 

[Zoemakes5]

I have NEVER taken my kids BF shopping, even when they were babies. There were a couple of years that I really needed to get creative, too, when my DH was working a second job in retail. One year my boys slept over at a friend's house and my friend and I went out super early and her DH watched the kids. One year a group of us hired a sitter. The kids had a big sleep over and the sitter came in and left before any of the kids even woke up. I've had grandparents and friends watch them, too. Especially the one year when I dragged my DH out.
In addition to the stress and strain of having a child up that early and with all the crazies out there and behavior issues, I have used BF to stretch our Christmas budget and most of what I've gotten has been for the kids.

 

[inkedupmomma]

I'm sorry, i was still tired when I made the poll. I meant for there to be a third option regarding older kids, and shopping after a certain time.

My basic point was, I thought it was ridiculous to see very young kids waiting in line at 1:30 am at Toys r us. I get the teenager thing, and even the infant in a car seat. But to see young toddlers, and even kids my DD's age seemed outrageous toi me. The kids were out in the cold, tired, damp, and cranky. Just didn't seem right to me i couldn't imagine dragging my babies out that late.

 

[dawnbu40]

I agree little kids should not be out in the middle of the night. We were out at 4am and saw people standing outside with babies (we're in Michigan!) and saw many kids under age 6. When my DD was little we made it a tradition that she would spend Thanksgiving night at one of her grandparent's houses so we could shop. If nobody was able to sit for her I stayed home. Now she's in college however and she's dragging me out shopping

 

[Robinrs]

I'm sorry, i was still tired when I made the poll. I meant for there to be a third option regarding older kids, and shopping after a certain time.

My basic point was, I thought it was ridiculous to see very young kids waiting in line at 1:30 am at Toys r us. I get the teenager thing, and even the infant in a car seat. But to see young toddlers, and even kids my DD's age seemed outrageous toi me. The kids were out in the cold, tired, damp, and cranky. Just didn't seem right to me i couldn't imagine dragging my babies out that late.

I agree, but I think that 24/7!!

 

[Swimalie]

I didn't ( my son is 4) but I don't judge those that do. I think its important we think before we judge, I'm a single mother, with a very small family.. ( just an elderly mother) I have brought my son to the dentist with me, oil changes .. work.. pretty much anyplace i have to go when my mother is not up to watching him and its non school hours. I know black Friday shopping is not something you must do, but maybe its someones best bet to get clothes for school , or make the most of something like a 100.00 dollar christmas budget. Sorry to be a Debbie downer lol.

I have no family where I live, only myself and my husband and he travels a lot for work. I bring my son (age 4) a lot of places (doctor's appt, car inspections, etc) but black friday shopping in the middle of the night - never at his age. There is nothing out there that is needed or wanted that badly to do that to a child.

 

[mamo-4-wdw]

I have no family where I live, only myself and my husband and he travels a lot for work. I bring my son (age 4) a lot of places (doctor's appt, car inspections, etc) but black friday shopping in the middle of the night - never at his age. There is nothing out there that is needed or wanted that badly to do that to a child.

I was a single parent too. I always left the boys with their grandmother and went BF shopping with my best friend.
I did not ever take my boys out after 8pm ever,that was their bedtime period.
Now that they are adults I take them with me IF they want to go. The oldest one loves it but the younger one only wants to go if there is some thing special he wants.
After this year (a woman was trampled at TRU in our town,she broke her leg) I don't think I will go anymore,even though my boys are adults I still don't want them to get hurt
.After all it is still just stuff.

 

[MSSANDRA]

took the 17 year old and the 22 year old but NO WAY DGS 3. For years DH and I went alone but have started including then older ones the last few years. WE however go all day 12-15 hours starting at 4 or5am.

We saw a newborn this year at about 5 am. He could not have been more that a week or two old. He was sound asleep but there is NO WAY I would have a baby that little in those crowds with all the flu in our area!!!
We used sand sanitizer after every store!!!