Why do people let their kids sit in the middle of an aisle and play with toys?

United States
December 10, 2006 7:07pm CST
I just got home from shhopping and was quite upset that i had to set over and around kids who were sitting in the middle of the aisle playing with the toys! What really got me was the parents were right there,and when i said something they gave ME a dirty look told the kids lets go and then kicked the toys and left them on the floor! I work in retail and people don't realize that us consumers end up paying for it because so many of those toys will have to be junked,the store takes a loss and to make up for that loss they have to raise their prices. What ever having respect and teaching your children that if you don't have the money then you don't touch? My children were taught you don't touch anything unless you have money to buy it and if you do touch you better put it back where you found it. I'm still steaming about this!
39 responses
• United States
11 Dec 06
Oh my god get over it!! Children like to look and touch new things, it's how they learn and develope. If the parents gave you a dirty look it was probably because you were being rude to begin with.
@prue187 (517)
• United States
11 Dec 06
When we go to Department stores, We usually visit the toy section. My kids loves toys, It's normal. But they don't play in the aisle and I don't let them. I've never experienced that kind of situation, where in I'm shopping and kids are in the aisle. One time we went to a bookstore, my son 18 mos old, wanted to play with the books, I didn't allow him to so he started crying and screaming. There was this lady who looked at me and my son she looks so mad at us, she was reading a tabloid or something, She stared at my son and start shaking her head, I wanted to tell her don't stare at me and my child. like that this isn't the library. but of course that didn't happen instead I went out the bookstore. kids will be kids, Parents will react bad if their children is attacked in any sort of way. Just like a tigress trying to protect her cubs. Let's be matured and not make a humungus deal out of this.
• United States
11 Dec 06
The point i was making that they sit in the middle of the aisle blocking people,can get hurt by people walking. I watched kids take toys out of the package and their parents watched and didn't say 1 word! So the toy is damaged because the parents didn't buy them and we have to pay for the loss. I was not rude i just said excuse me and she rolled her eyes like i shouldn't ask her children to get off the floor! I could of been rude and accidentally hit her children with the shopping cart but i was raised with respect!
• United States
11 Dec 06
I don't agree with people opening the toys that they don't intend to buy or people who leave thier children unattended in the toy department. I wasn't there and I don't know how it happened so I must apologize for saying you were rude. I am a mother of a two year old and a three year year old. If I actually attempt to take them any where by myself I am greatful for thing to occupy thier time. Letting my children play in the floor or in the aisle is fun. I get right down there with them on thier level and experience life through a childs eyes. I don't think it is disrespectul, we don't intend on inhibiting anyones busy busy fast fast day. Maybe more people should slow down and take the time to be silly like kids and not be so uptight and serious.
@nishanity (1650)
• India
11 Dec 06
do u knwo how difficult it is take care of children... i know it... they r unmanageable... and some kids are just born as brats.. nothign the parents do,can change that... dont blame parents for the children being bad...aftr all "good wombs have borne bad sons"
@kpisgod (994)
• India
11 Dec 06
The tempest? oye bad daughters too
@Jshean20 (14349)
• Canada
11 Dec 06
As a kid I was never allowed to play with toys in the aisle either..I think it's silly to let your kids do that. The only reason I can think of, is that parents want to entertain their kids while they are shopping so that they are not walking around pointing out what they want and throwing fits. I never really thought of the fact that as customers we are paying more for products because so much of it gets wrecked, this kind of makes me a bit mad.
@baysmummy (1637)
• Australia
11 Dec 06
I know what you mean that really annoys me to, Some parents have no idea although usually those toys that have been opened and played with will go to reduced bin and sold for a lesser price because of it they are still losing money! There is no way i allow my son to sit there and play with toys, But then again if it says try me or whatever i will let him push the button and see what it does, i dont allow him to take it off the shelve at all unless we are buying it!
• United States
11 Dec 06
I can tell you why! The toy is the ONLY place where you can stop and look while they play! I clean up my kids mess BUT I do let them sit and play. For one thing if they like I know what to buy secondly that is the only time I can really look a the toys that i need to get for my sisters kids SO TRY and understand shopping with 3kids is NOT easy!
@taruha (559)
• United States
11 Dec 06
touching and picking up the toys and then playing with them on store aisles is really problematic.it not only hikes the store prices, it also creates a big safety hazard also and somebody may fall down.the parents must strictly warn and teach their children not to indulgein such activities.
@vipul20044 (5794)
• India
11 Dec 06
You are right But then it isnt the child's fault You know a child absorbs what the parents teaches him And if, the person has a bit of ethics he will prolly buy the toy or rather tell the kid not to touch it Even if he does, he wont kick it ! that aint manners I still laugh at so called EDUCAtEd Society of ours, who do such things? What is the difference between them and the illiterates? And then they expect them to be a idol for their kids? that can never happen!
@prncesssly (1373)
• United States
11 Dec 06
This is precisely why I hate going shopping this time of year. People bring their bratty kids who have no respect. The other day I was trying to find a coat for myself and this mother I guess wouldn't buy a toy for her child so the child stood in the middle of the store and just SCREAMED for like 10 minutes. And the mom would just say "come on let's go we're leaving" but she wouldn't pick the kid up or anything... she just let him stand there and scream. Finally the dad came and grabbed the kid and carried him out of the store. How utterly annoying. I hate spoiled kids who think that they will get anything they want! And I hate that parents don't teach their kids discipline.
@gewcew23 (8007)
• United States
11 Dec 06
I use to work in retail and in the toy dept. It use to make me so upset when this would happen. WHen I was a child I would never gotten away with it. SOmething else that would upset me is that the parents would leave their child(ren) in the toy dept while they would shop. It was a babysitting area I guess they thought. That is very upsetting too not just because they tear open everything but something could happen to them they could have been kidnapped and taken 20 or 30 miles before the parents would ever know.
• United States
11 Dec 06
That's a great question! I am totally against parents letting their brats do this! It's called discipline, which a lot of kids don't have these days!
• United States
11 Dec 06
I hate stuff liket his too. I hate when people give their kids toys or let them run around just so they dont have to bother with them.
• United States
11 Dec 06
It makes me mad too so you're not alone. I don't think that most parents raise their children the way they should anymore. I don't understand why though. Are they too busy or what?
@imadriscoll (2228)
• United States
11 Dec 06
As it gets closer to Christmas and the stores are filling up it's hard enough to get through any toy aisle without having people and their kids playing in the aisles! I think that some parents spend the entire day shopping and trying to get things done that they start to feel guilty that their children have been shuffled from their car seat to the shopping cart or stroller all day long. So when the child starts to fuss or throw fits they let them get out of the cart and play with whatever they get their hands on ... at least they're quiet for awhile and mom and dad have a few minutes of silence. What they don't understand is that this (besides being poor parenting) has adverse effects ... on the children, the parents and as you wisely pointed out the consumer. The child learns that if I throw a fit I can get away with anything and the parents then either have to break the habit that they started in their child or put up with this bad behavior. And the rest of pay for it in higher prices. He's a little tip ... if you're child can't be in the cart all day ... don't take them shopping all day. If you have to take them shopping all day, take breaks. We sometimes go to a mall with a play area for children, this allows them to run around and get some of the wiggles out! I understand why this is so annoying to you. We went to Walmart this weekend and a mother and her son were actually throwing a ball up and down the aisle and not letting anyone pass through. It was stressful enough with all the other aisles packed and it took my best behavior not to bend the mom over my knee for a much needed spanking!
• United States
11 Dec 06
I think the question you pose is a good one, but the reasons as to why people allow their kids to sit in the middle of a store aisle and play with toys are various. First, I think many parents are wanting to do their shopping in relative peace and when faced with a kid that is restless or is having a case of the "I wants," it's a rather "easy" solution to simply let the kid do what he/she wants while mom or dad gets on with the business of shopping. Second, many parents just don't see how inconvenient this sort of behavior is to others; as long as little John or Janey is occupied with the toys and not whining or acting up, if the other customers don't like it, tough cookies. I hate to say it, but rudeness in public seems to replacing baseball as the national pastime...
@sarah22 (3979)
• United States
11 Dec 06
yes, that gets me too and when mine try and play with them, i make them sit in the inside so they are out the way. parents should watch there kids as there are people not watching where they are going and then the kids get hurt.
@fl0urish (5384)
• India
11 Dec 06
because they dont want them to move around
@rms2727 (815)
• India
11 Dec 06
at times when I see the kids being left unattended in the stores, and the kids messing around the whole place and creating a complete nuisance, I feel like spanking not the children by their parents who can be so irresponsible. they don't realize that kind of inconvenience that other people face because of their irresponsible behavior but in case they have to face something similar they really get hyper
@arman9890 (452)
• India
11 Dec 06
Well This is not good for sure.. They need to be nice to everyone as they are parent.. If parent are doing like this then how can they teach their child about good things?
• United States
11 Dec 06
I don't let my kid splay with toys unless I intend on buying them. I am not going to tease my kid ith a toy they can't have. It's not very polite to let your kids play in the aisle. That's why they have toys at home!! Some parents feel that they don't need to watch their children. I see kids running around all the time in stores like it's some type of park. It's a shame how some parents can't control their children but instead let their children control them.
@crystal8577 (1466)
• United States
11 Dec 06
My kids would never even ask to do that. They know the only toys they can play with are the ones out for display (leap pads, kids computers & such). I usually make my girls go in the cart if they are in the store woth me. They know they are not allowed to run around & touch everything. Some parents just don't care. Their kids get worse as they get older because they are not taught to respect property or others.