Barefoot child at Wal-Mart

[Lady's Human]

So everyone else's kids were immaculately clothed and groomed at all times outside the home ?

Never one thing amiss?

Give yourselves a group medal and a pat one the back, because you're the only parents in history to accomplish that.

[lizbud]

So everyone else's kids were immaculately clothed and groomed at all times outside the home ?

Never one thing amiss?

Give yourselves a group medal and a pat one the back, because you're the only parents in history to accomplish that.

No one claimed any such thing. I believe you're just being argumentative.
It isn't allways easy to be the parent & make informed decisions for your
children, but hey, it is our JOB & our responsibilty.

[Lady's Human]

No one claimed any such thing. I believe you're just being argumentative.

No. just amazed that people can be so judgmental about the parenting abilities of generations based on a child sighted in passing barefoot in a checkout line.

Big deal, the kid was barefoot.

[aTailOf2Kitties]

Nothing surprises me at WalMart anymore. It's practically a natural history museum dedicated to the lesser-evolved forms of human life.

[Lady's Human]

So.......what if someone, not wanting to be seen with a barefoot child in a store (they wouldn't want to be the cause for the damning of their generation's child rearing ability), left said child in the car while they ran in to grab something?

Or left a dog and two kids in a car while they ran into the local grocery store to grab a single item?

It's a no win.

Not everyone is going to conform to your belief of what the perfect parent is, and EVERYONE has bad hair days.

[GoldenLover]

I work at Walmart in security, and let me tell you, I've seen worse...
I've seen children in the dead of winter in t-shirts. The decent parents at least steal a coat for them, but many of them just wrap them in a blanket and go.

I've seen parents let their kids do all sorts of extremely unsafe things. My favorite is when they let their kid ride on the very bottom of the cart. They *always either get their fingers or their hair pinched in the cart wheels. And it's *always Walmart's fault when they file the accident claim.

I've seen parents help their kids to climb on the shelves. I've seen infants left in hot cars outside while their single momma shops. I also see a fair amount of kids that are used as disguises or aids to help the parents steal. Just wait till they grow up... I'll be waiting.

Worst of all is the parents who shouldn't be parents. There is this one 40-something couple in particular that comes in nearly every day to purchase food stamp items. They are heavy set, and are too lazy to walk (though they are *completely able, I've seen them do it) so they get TWO electric scooters, one for each of them. The little boy, who is probably 5, is SCREAMED at the entire time they're in the store. They start by letting him go to the restroom, and of course, they don't get up to go help him. Instead, they wait about a minute after he goes in, then open the main door to the restroom and scream at him to hurry up. Then while in the store, they scream at him for everything from touching things to not walking in a straight line. Poor kid can't do anything right according to them. The boy is not mis-behaved (believe me, some are and deserve the commands), and I truely feel sorry for him.

And it always seems to be worse around the 1st and 15th of the month... You can tell who has kids because they love kids and who has kids for the tax benefits. It's really sad...

[pomtzu]

I don't think this thread's issue is about the kid being barefoot, but about the potential safety danger of going without shoes, and the potential of stepping on something that would cause injury. A piece of broken glass, a sliver of metal, a nail, a caustic liquid - any of these which could be in the parking lot, or even the store floor. It's only common sense on the part of the parents to protect their kids from any kind of injury that could be caused this way.
If they want to let their kids go barefoot, then make sure they're small enough to ride in the store cart, from the time they get out of the car until they get back in. Too big for the cart?? - then make sure the feet are protected! It's only a matter of common sense and has nothing at all to do with being immaculately groomed.

[Lady's Human]

The point about immaculately groomed was therefor a reason.

No, my kids aren't spotless 24/7.

Yes, there are times when we have to do things that aren't normal, like a late night run for meds when only one parent is home, in which case it's in the truck, as is, to the store.

I'm sure I've brought kids to the store in a condition of dress or cleanliness which would have, in some instances, made one of the immaculate pillars of parenthood irate enough to post here.

Points being, you don't know what happened, and, as several people throughout history have said, don't judge a person until you've walked a mile in their shoes.

Safety? The most dangerous place in any child's life? the kitchen and bathroom. Not Wal Mart, not K-Mart, not CVS or a parking lot, your own home. You have products in your house which would never be allowed in a workplace because of the hazards (try an MSDS for 409, for instance!)

(BTW, I can't count the number of store parking lots I walked through barefoot as a child. My mother must have been a terrible parent!)

[happylabs]

I do not think there is any excuse for this type of neglect. If there was a reason she could not wear shoes they should have made her ride in a cart. I would never ever have let either of my kids go barefoot in public, even at the beach we made them wear sandals until we got our towels and blankets set up.

Parents are just letting their kids run things these days. Bad parenting...

[Lady's Human]

So neglect is now letting a kid go barefoot?

Priceless.

What's sending them to bed without dinner? Reckless endangerment?

[pomtzu]

I do not think there is any excuse for this type of neglect. If there was a reason she could not wear shoes they should have made her ride in a cart. I would never ever have let either of my kids go barefoot in public, even at the beach we made them wear sandals until we got our towels and blankets set up.

Yup - there's something to be said for foot protection at the beach too. As a teenager, I gashed the bottom of my foot open on a piece of broken glass that was just under the surface of the sand - bad enough to require a trip to the hospital to be cleaned out and stitched up. No fun and very painful too..

[Casper]

Maybe they were visiting from Arkansas. No one wears shoes here.