would you judge someone who brings their kid to the grocery store?

Do you judge people who bring kids to the grocery store during this pandemic?

  • Yes

    Votes: 15 9.0%
  • no

    Votes: 152 91.0%

  • Total voters
    167
Of course not. Not everyone is lucky enough to have someone they can leave their children with at home, or at all. And even if you do have doting aunts, uncles, grandparents, neighbors, etc. all happy to watch the kids, technically you may not be supposed to have them do that right now. I think it's far easier to keep your kids socially distant from strangers in a store than from someone watching them.
 
No, for all of the following reasons; Covid isn't killing kids, perhaps the mom in the store is a single mom, perhaps home is not a safe place for her child, and most importantly, what you do with your kids does not concern me whatsoever. I am not afraid of your kids germs. I don't wear a mask and so I would never judge a parent for not wearing one, or not putting one on their kid. I've taken my kiddos into the store with me when it's allowed and I use the opportunity to show them that we can respect the rules, but also that we do not have to live in fear and never leave our house. IMO Covid is here to stay, so we might as well get used to it. Plus the grocery store is a great place to cover a variety of math lessons, lol. 😄
 
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It would t even cross my mind to judge a parent bringing their kid into the store.

If the kid weren’t wearing a mask that might make me go “hmmm””.

If the kid were a screaming maniac brat, I’d be judging. But not judging the child’s presence. Judging the child’s behavior.
 
When this whole stay-at-home thing started. I admit I thought *** are you doing when I saw large families heading into the store (multiple adults and several kids no one wearing a mask at all!) Now It's very commonplace and a lot of families are schlepping around with the entire passel of kids in tow. Maybe to ease some of the boredum.

And that is maybe part of the reason 14 states are seeing an increase in Covid cases.
 


I was going to say 'no', but a couple weeks back (during the height of the 'no TP!!' issues), I ended up going to Target right at opening time. It was rather cold out. Not freezing, but a nippy 40s. Me and a bunch of folks end up lining up outside a restpectful cart's distance apart from one another. And up come this couple with a baby in a small (made for very young babies) stroller. There were 2 of them. There was no reason for them both to come out to Target, let alone to bring their newborn out into the near-freezing weather and expose it to Covid-19. So yes, I did silently judge them.

But most people, no. I'd just assume they had no available babysitter, and they need to eat.
 
No
Now that said I did when my state was in the start of the lockdown roll my eyes at
The mom entering the store with two teenagers who appeared to be either 13 and 15 or 14 and 16 considering that in my state 15 year olds can have a restricted drivers license (only 1 non passenger that does not reside in the same household or the other legal parent's household if parents are seperated unless accompanied by a licensed driver over 21 though it might be 25 years of age in the front passenger seat) and in the town I was in (I actually live between 2 towns) the local law enforcement says nothing about 13 year olds driving 4 wheelers and gators on the streets provided they are not on the 3 main streets except to cross them and they have a helmet on so no one is going to say you left your kids in danger for leaving them in the car on a day that was in the high 40s/low 50s.
The couple who got out of a car and took in a child who looked to be between 18 months and a little over 2 years old who had previously been listening to music while the kid kept hitting the window up and down sharing the music with me while the mom kept telling the kid no.
Ok part of the eye rolling on that on was wondering did you drive to the store with your kid on your lap because the style of car did not look like you could easily reach back unbuckle your kid who even though the law in this state is still 1 yr and 20 lbs for rf should be rf and have the kid climb in the front seat plus the kid did not seem happy about having to get out and not listen to the music in the car.
In that situation I was thinking why doesn't one of you go into the grocery store and the other one of you stay in the car with the kid and let the kid happily listen to music as long as you don't have it too loud who even cares if the kid puts the window up and down it sure wasn't bothering me and I was sitting in the passenger seat of the car parked on your passenger side while waiting for my husband to get the few things that we were not able to get on the order we had just picked up at the other store in town shortly before.
 


At this point in our city, regular stores and restaurants are reopening and there are no longer limitations on the numbers of people allowed in grocery stores and other essential stores. The lines to get in have disappeared. People are bringing kids out because there is no requirement not to.

However, I am finding that doctor's offices are still being quite strict about how many people can accompany a patient to an appointment. My older son had an appointment yesterday and we were told "one parent may come, no siblings" during a voice mail message I got the day before. Well, his sibling is a 14 year old with developmental delays who I cannot leave at home alone yet. He is unable to handle any sort of emergency at home, so I won't leave him alone unless my older son is home as well (which is what I've been doing this whole time with shopping...leave them home together while I shop). My husband is overseas on a military assignment and we don't have anyone nearby to help, and it's not like having babysitters over is a smart idea right now either. I brought my son and explained the situation and they were fine with it. Allowances always need to be made.

And that is why I will never judge parents who bring the kids out right now. We don't know the situation and many people simply are in a position where they are sole caregivers and don't have any choice. And no, online shopping/delivery is not always the answer either.
 
I totally understand that some people need to take their kids to the grocery store right now. I assume that’s their only option and that they’re doing their best to keep their families safe and fed.

I do, however, get a bit judgy when I see people putting their kids and others in unsafe situations. I was buying groceries at Target a few weeks ago. There was a family of 5 shopping together. The youngest was a little girl around 2 years old. She was not in the shopping cart and no one was holding her hand. She was trailing behind the family throughout the store, wandering in front of people’s carts, stopping here and there and generally getting way to close to other people. It wasn’t her fault. She was just being a typical, easily distracted kid. The worst part happened at the checkout. The family ended up at the checkstand next to ours. The little girl had her mouth on the corner of the counter. She was licking it and appeared to be trying to chew on it. Kids chew on things. It’s not that unusual. But the patents didn’t even notice what she was doing! Covid aside, a store counter is not the cleanest place in the world. There could be any number of viruses and bacteria on there. Not to mention what the child might have left behind to spread to other people who might touch it.

So no, I will not judge anyone who need to bring kids to the store. I will, however, judge if they are allowed to behave in an unsafe manner.
 
Never.

You don't know another person's situation. If I see a single adult with kids, then I figure there was a reason for them having to be there.

My cousin was treated horribly when she brought her daughter to the store after we started all the lock down stuff. Her daughter was in a carrier against mom's chest and mom was wearing a mask. However, she got multiple comments about how she shouldn't be there. Including people telling her she was a horrible mother, that they should call CPS, and that she deserved it if her or her child got sick and died. Yep. People came up to her and said these things. If you judge like that and feel you have the right to say that to a stranger then you are a sad and miserable human being.
 
I have heard some stores about this but I am currently faced with this situation of having to wait 3+ days or taking my 2 year old to the store.

Do what you have to in order to get food on the table. I mean, maybe try to plan ahead a little better? I"m not sure I understand what you mean about waiting 3+ days. I go shopping once a week. I buy a week's worth of groceries at a time. But I guess if I ran out of something in the meantime, I would go get it. Is that what you mean?
 
Do what you have to in order to get food on the table. I mean, maybe try to plan ahead a little better? I"m not sure I understand what you mean about waiting 3+ days. I go shopping once a week. I buy a week's worth of groceries at a time. But I guess if I ran out of something in the meantime, I would go get it. Is that what you mean?
Im thinking the 3+ days being referenced was for instacart or the grocery stores shopping services where you merely pick up your groceries.
 
No, it’s not my business to judge others. That said, I do get annoyed when an entire family of 5-6 people insist on shopping together because they tend to clog up the entire one-way aisle which makes my shopping trip that much longer. I usually don’t mind lingering at the store, but while wearing a mask I want to get in and out ASAP.

Just today my daughter had to shop with both her 1&3 year olds, it was pretty much the first time those babies had been out of the house in over 2 months so it was an adventure for them!

ETA: no mask for the 2 year old, don’t let ANYONE judge you for that!!
 
ETA: no mask for the 2 year old, don’t let ANYONE judge you for that!!

I know a lot of guidelines say 2 & under shouldn't wear a mask. but I think it should be at least 3 & under (if not 5 & under). And I am one of those who believe EVERYONE should be wearing a mask anytime they are in public where they are going to come into contact with other (generally stores, not outside for a walk).
 
Can I ask a question, please? I know that 2 and under can't wear a mask but I was just wondering why. Is it detrimental to their health? Just curious and that is it.
 
Can I ask a question, please? I know that 2 and under can't wear a mask but I was just wondering why. Is it detrimental to their health? Just curious and that is it.
I think it is mostly because they figure under 2 aren’t able to physically remove the mask if necessary.
 
My husband and I are essential workers who work long shifts at variable hours which means that the other person is often single parenting. Add the fact that there is no school or daycare during the day and that you have to reserve a grocery pick up time 4-5 days in advance and you better believe I have no choice but to take my kids to the grocery store. Anyone who is judging should stop and think maybe they don’t know the whole situation. Trust me, I am not excited about bringing too small kids to a grocery store... ever... but especially during a pandemic so the last thing I need is being judging me!
 
I'll be honest, up until a few weeks ago when they started lifting the restrictions, I did judge mom and dad and their 4 kids in the store together. Never a single parent with kids. When we still had the stay at home order, teenagers were running around together at Walmart with their friends. Even though we were on stay at home orders for 2 months, a lot of people here didn't take it seriously. I'm amazed our numbers for our county are as good as they are. I think it's because we are a government city and a lot of workers are now home working and school is homeschooling. Those two in my opinion were where I'd catch things from (co-workers and grandkids).
 
In the beginning our grocery store asked that one person only shop. I tried to bring both children in with me and they asked that I return without them ( not joking!) My DH travels and I often have no one to watch my 11 and 2 year old. Grocery pick up was hard as many things we couldn't get and with DSs severe allergies he can't have substitutions. I have had to go into certain stores for these items...I now take both children in with masks on. My DD2 does better than my DS11
 

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