Running The gift shop gauntlet!!

Sorry, not really addressed to you as such Josianne!

Josianne

What is it with children and gift shops? I used to take parties of young school children to the zoo, to the aquarium, to museums, to castles etc etc and all they could talk about was what to buy in the gift shop at the end of the visit!

‘Twas ever thus !

But does it really matter ?
Either let children buy something or don’t…..

Yes agreed theworriedwell

sodapop

Why should gift shops be banned, other people will like to buy a memento of their visit. Life does not revolve round children

But they don't have to make the exit through the shop. People could reasonably be given a choice.

Why should gift shops be banned, other people will like to buy a memento of their visit. Life does not revolve round children

Actually, Josianne, DH and I thought when we retired that we could go to places of interest out of school holiday time - but wherever we went there was a school trip; here, overseas, they seemed to know that the Callistemons were going somewhere and arrived en masse.

Josianne

What is it with children and gift shops? I used to take parties of young school children to the zoo, to the aquarium, to museums, to castles etc etc and all they could talk about was what to buy in the gift shop at the end of the visit!

and trying to keep track of them as they scooted around

The worst gift shops are the ones that can't be avoided, which I think should be banned!!
Oh, I do like a gift shop

Pencils, fridge magnets, books, local honey.
No cuddly toys though but the occasional dinosaur!

What is it with children and gift shops? I used to take parties of young school children to the zoo, to the aquarium, to museums, to castles etc etc and all they could talk about was what to buy in the gift shop at the end of the visit!

Lizbethann55 Sounds as if you are doing your best.Some children are just hard work. She's young to understand money. My GCs have loads of cuddly toys as well. Just an advance warning the next thing is stationary. A girl can never have enough rubbers, pencil sharpeners etc. etc. Good luck

Thank you for your replies. My DD has, on several occasions, including last Saturday, picked my DGD up and carried her out of the dreaded gift shops. The toys are an accumulation of nearly 6 years of gifts. Not all from days out! The worst gift shops are the ones that can't be avoided, which I think should be banned!! We are having her for a sleepover on Saturday so I think I will get some toy money and play shop. I am not sure how much she understands about what things actually cost and then suggest to my DD that DGD is responsible for what she spends, but some of these places are so busy! We are also working on the "one in, one out" policy with new soft toys.

As Calendargirl has noted, hundreds of soft toys have come from somewhere?.

this parent obviously is saying no

Just wonder where all the hundreds of cuddly toys came from then?

When we went out for the day, we would usually give the children a small enhancement to their pockey money. Then if they wanted anything from the gift shop they had to buy it from their 'own' money.

It was surprisingly how soon they became quite discriminating and often decided to ignore the gift shop and keep the money for something else.

Give this child her week's pocket money and a couple of pounds extra and let her decide how to spend it.

If she throws a trembler - and I had one of those - I would just walk away from her and leave her to it. She has told me - as an adult - that once she realised no one would take any notice of her if she had a tantrum and I would be neither embarrassed or impressed, they became a bit pointless, so she stopped having them.

NotSpaghetti

sodapop and others, this parent obviously IS saying "no" and doing so again and again.

I know it took months to get "no" through to one of mine if in a toy shop. It's not always that a very firm "no" is easily swallowed!
I was pretty firm with my five but one of them was a "one-off"!

I've got four and like you I had one who could be a pain in. I have six GC, two never ask for anything, 3 will ask but they are little and learning no means no. One is spoilt, her mother's fault not the child. Her father objects but her mother seems to encourage her rather than try to teach her.

So I think their personality plays a part and their upbringing plays a part.

pester good word grannyactivist

Pestering results in deaf ears! and definitely No Touching!

Chardy

Give her a fiver and tell her she can buy what she wants

My thoughts too!

Or start giving her pocket money so that she can bring some with her to spend - that is, if she wants to part with her own money.

It all sounds exhausting, perhaps leave visits to places with gifts shops until the child is a little older, after all if it is spoiling the day what is the point. If days out are infrequent then surely a small purchase at the shop is part of the fun, give her a couple of pounds.

sodapop and others, this parent obviously IS saying "no" and doing so again and again.

I know it took months to get "no" through to one of mine if in a toy shop. It's not always that a very firm "no" is easily swallowed!
I was pretty firm with my five but one of them was a "one-off"!

I love gift shops and do tend to fritter cash on the same old bars of soap, jars of chutney, scarves etc. If DH is with me he gets very close and herds me at a trot straight through and out the other side muttering "C'mon, c'mon ... I've got to get home, I'm starving." I'll have to practise this with our GD before she's old enough to discover the joys of browsing.

My granddaughter also a bit obsessed with cuddly toys.
She got one from what they call the tip shop. A great idea

FWIW I admire your D for sticking to her guns and not giving in to your GD's temper tantrums Lizbethann.

My advice is to take her firmly by the hand and walk quickly through the gift shop before she has the chance to find something she wants.

Knowing that we can't always have what we want, when we want it is one of life's lessons after all.

My eldest was toy cars in the supermarket, they used to hang down all the aisles. We must have had well over 100 of them and the crafty supermarket obviously made sure there were always new and different ones in stock.

This was my won downfall though, I made the rod for my back there when I said yes the first time. I should have handled it differently but 5 children later I still haven't got the hang of it. They just all grew out of it and none are spoiled or entitled now.

I actually think it is wrong that a lot of places have the gift shop on the way out because it is designed to take advantage of children in this natural phase. No wonder they blow up.

Anyway, she will get past it eventually and I'm sure for right now every single one of those teddies are precious.

Calendargirl
where do all these cuddly toys end up, charity shops
Yes!!! If they are very good ( with a label) we try to sell them.
But, the majority aren’t. So, we have to dump them in our skip.
Skips aren’t free, we have to pay for them.
Our skip is filled before the end of the week. We have been in the situation where, I, and other volunteers havre taken said donated crap to our local council tip ?

How is it that the word 'No' is so difficult for some parents to say and mean and for some children to understand. You have to be firm and consistent, no good giving in to tantrums however embarrassing it may be at the time.