The Electronic Babysitter -- coming to a store near you

by Roger Sinasohn (Subscribe to Roger Sinasohn's posts) Aug 11th 2006 10:00AM

Categories: Places To Go, That's Entertainment

In the Atlanta area, parents shopping at Publix markets can do so in peace and quiet, with out the usual screaming, whining, and mayhem one expects from small children in a grocery store. No more tomato-juggling, no more hide-and-seek in the freezer compartments, no more broken wine bottles. Best of all, it only costs one dollar. That's right, ladies and gentlemen, serenity can be yours for one lonely dollar -- four quarters, ten dimes, one hundred cents. Less than a package of macaroni-and-cheese, a loaf of bread, or a quart of milk.

The TV Kart is a fancy shopping cart that incorporates a television screen in an area for a child (possibly two) to ride in comfort watching Barney, the Wiggles, or Bob the Builder. The design puts the child at the bottom, lowering the center of gravity and making the cart more stable and safer. On the other hand, I'm not sure that watching TV is the best use of a kid's time in a grocery store. The manufacturer claims that the Karts will keep a child entertained for 48 minutes and that parents who use the carts will shop an additional eight to nine minutes -- translating into an additional $100,000 in sales for the store.

As tempting as this is, I think that I would rather deal with the kids myself (yes, I'm a masochist) or take advantage of the on-site, supervised play area our grocery store offers. Would you use these carts? Would you pay a dollar for the privilege?

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Comments (56)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

Ginny 8-11-2006 @ 10:15AM

Oh yeah I would. My children are too old to sit in a traditional cart but not too old to enjoy sitting in the front like that. I doubt they'd watch the TV but if it will allow me more time to compare prices and use my coupons, heck yeah. AND, since it costs a dollar, maybe there would be one available when I need it. Our Publix has race car carts already. They are TOO cool and my children (4 and 5) BOTH fit. There is a steering wheel for each of them and believe it or not, they BOTH think they have to steer or I can't manuever the store. Such helpers they are. :)

Big Grown-Up Mommy (Heather) 8-11-2006 @ 10:54AM

No. Never! Not in a million years!
Sedate 'em with TV, what a great idea (not).

michele little 8-11-2006 @ 10:55AM

At first glimpse this cart looks appealing. But then I remember how much fun my daughter and I have at shopping at the grocery store. It's become a very interactive experience for her and she has learned a lot about food. She can name many fruits and vegetables (making her more inclined to want to taste them) and she helps me pick things out. We talk about what's healthy, and why we choose one thing vs. another. She understands when I say that something has "yucky stuff" in it (i.e. high-fructose corn syrup or trans-fatty acids) and doesn't press me to buy it. I value this time with her. She's learning a lot about what we eat and why, and I would not trade this experience just to have her watching TV.

Brenda 8-11-2006 @ 10:58AM

Hmmm I don't like the tv part, but I do like the below the centre of gravity part and the up to two kids part. Also kids would not be in a position to grab things and toss them in the basket because they would be under the basket... Now if they put some sort of screen on the door windows and windshield so they can't reach out and grab things at all, and remove the tv and replace it with a simple shelf where you could put books and toys.... maybe

ann adams 8-11-2006 @ 11:06AM

I couldn't get my girls in with a shoehorn but I might have when they were smaller. I don't have the horror of silly t.v. shows (in small doses)that some do.

They've always been fairly reasonable to take along but they would have loved Barney in the grocery store. My middle girl looks at the fancy pullalong carts they have now and wants to ride in one. They came along just as my gang had outgrown them.

Rubi 8-11-2006 @ 11:26AM

They have one at a walmart close where I live and it also has buttons for music. My son loves it! But he is also very happy in the big car shopping carts they have at a the local jewel. (I perfer the Walmart version they are easier to push)I would have liked if they had the backyardigans instead of the wiggles tho.

LS 8-11-2006 @ 11:28AM

Oh for Pete's sake. Can we please just TRY to spend a FEW MINUTES away from that blasted screen??? We park our kids in front of it at home, can't get in a car or go on a plane without it, it's at day care, preschool, regular school. In amusement parks. Now, they're putting them in shopping carts???

What happened to incorporating your kids in the shopping process? When I take my son to the store, he's constantly finding stuff... shapes, colors, letters, numbers. He holds (and sometimes shreds) my shopping list. If it's near mealtime, he gets a treat when we visit the deli for our week's lunchmeat (he gets a slice of cheese). At the end of the shopping trip, if we're in Wal-mart, he gets to visit the fish. And it thrills him down to his toes, and 99% of the time, he behaves himself.

Amber 8-11-2006 @ 12:16PM

I'd much rather have my kids stay with me watching a children's show than being put in a play area with strangers whom I have no idea if they are suited to be around children let alone take care of them while I shop.

Though often my 7 year old daughter deems herself a helper in the shopping process. For some it takes years before a child will help rather than cause a ruckus during shopping trips. It depends on your child's personality honestly. I wish those carts were available on those days when my daughter was a 4 year old, cranky, tired and I was in a new town at a new base, husband was deployed and I knew no one to take care of her while I shopped.

Also to add. We don't have public or cable TV at home, no TV in the SUV either and we homeschool. So I don't think 30-45 minutes of a funny and cute show will hurt them in the least while I'm able to compare prices so I save my family some money.

Stefania Pomponi Butler 8-11-2006 @ 12:39PM

which mollie's has a play area? I live in SF and will drive anywhere within 20 miles to shop in peace.

Amy 8-11-2006 @ 1:07PM

Here's a novel idea - how about teaching your children to behave in public, instead of sedating them with the boob tube? I'm imagining this family, that would use such a thing, that has a TV in their gigantic SUV, so that the kids are mind-numbed for the 10 minutes it takes to get to and from the store, too. I mean, God forbid that you have to have a CONVERSATION with your kids or something! You'd have to hang up your cell phone for that!!!

My daughter does not watch TV. The few times I've turned it on, she's been totally disinterested (probably because we didn't start with it moments after she emerged from the womb like other families do!). When we go to the store, I talk to her and sing to her and laugh with her and entertain her myself. I also make sure that we go when she is fed and has slept and has a dry diaper.

Parents who use TV in this manner are irresponsible, and I think it's awful that grocery stores are becoming complicit in their neglect.

Anna V. 8-11-2006 @ 1:08PM

Sure, in a perfect world, we'd incorporate learning with all three children while grocery shopping. In this world, however, I'm a tad more realistic. We go shopping as a family because my husband and I both will overshop if alone, so we keep each other in check. Our 3.5yo is all over the place, and sometimes she wants to help, other times no. The twins are more interested in destruction of anything within their reach. I would welcome such a distraction cart with open arms. Too bad we shop at the Oceana Commisary, which can be nice (yet very crowded at times), but most of the time the carts with cars are taken or MIA. TV is not evil all the time, and if we never let our kids watch it, I'd never be able to do anything!

ann adams 8-11-2006 @ 1:57PM

I'm sorry Amy but you assume far too much about people you don't know.

Ginny 8-11-2006 @ 2:05PM

Hey Amy, welcome to the real world. My children ages 4 and 5 RARELY watch TV. We don't have one in our car either. I rarely talk on the phone (cell or other) when they are with me. They ask too many questions to be ignored. And I do answer every one and happily I might add. Not to mention, they are rather well behaved in the store. STILL - having two children shopping with me is not easy. It would take me 2 hours to shop if I turned it into a lesson every damn week. "OK Robyn - can you find the 4 oz package of Spam. Do you see the "S - P - A - M" Yes, that's it, but that's the 8 oz package...what's an ounce, oh it's a unit of measure..." Oh Lord, I can just see the rest of the shoppers rolling their eyes for me to get the hell out of their way. Maybe I could have my 5 year old handle the coupons. "No Zane, that one is expired, that means it's too old to use, let's find one that's new." @@ Gimme a break. I DO take them with me every week and it IS a big ordeal, so having a cool cart for them to use would be (and is) a BIG bonus. (and for the record, I have never actually bought Spam...)

Michelle 8-11-2006 @ 2:47PM

Thank you, Ann and Ginny. I had a lengthy reply all typed up and somehow lost it in the wild blue yonder.

I think it is unbearably rude when somone who chooses not to incorporate TV into their child's life, looks down on, and casts stones at, the rest of us. I'm tired of them broadcasting to all, hither and yon, that we are neglectful, evil parents. We play with our children, engage them in conversation, teach them, read to them. We monitor what they do watch and use it as an eduactional tool. And, occasionally, we use it to a get a couple minutes to unload the steak knives from the dishwasher, or get dinner out of the 400 degree oven.

I hardly ever used television, either, with 1 child. My tune has changed somewhat since I have two 21 mos apart.

I definitely think it is worth $1 to have a shopping cart both of my small children can fit into, instead of having to stack the groceries around my 3 yr old in the basket of the cart, because parents with one 12 yr are using the multi-child carts. However, it would be nice if they had a shelf for toys and books, like Brenda said, instead of the TV. Can you imagine shopping in a store with a bunch of carts running around with TV? Oh, the noise!

I live in Atlanta and shop at Publix, so it will be interesting to see how this all works out!

I do have the DVD player in my van. I was resistant to the idea, until I started traveling to Birmingham from Atlanta, by myself, with the kids. Sometimes it is more important to watch the road and be mindful of the tractor-trailers and drivers going 100 mph through construction zones on I-20, than to sing with them and engage them in conversation. We don't turn it on for running errands around town and they aren't neglected.

I don't fear they will grow up to be serial killers or psychopaths because they are exposed to PlayHouse Disney, or Wonderpets.

I think it is wonderful you choose for your family not to watch television. You have the right to that choice without being judged or labeled, as do those of who make a choice different than yours!

Ginny 8-11-2006 @ 3:01PM

You're welcome Michelle. Don't you HATE when you lose a post? Not to mention one that took a little time? Anyway, you are right, having one child at the store WAS fun....especially when they were babies. Kids get older; siblings come along; and that's when the party starts.

Brenda 8-11-2006 @ 3:01PM

Anyone who wants to show me how to make shopping educational with a 5 month old can feel free. I just want a safe cart that will stop him from tossing things around. (And don't say baby carrier, I do the whole baby carrier thing and that just makes it easier for him to reach things on the shelves. Luckily cans aren't breakable, mommy's toes on the other hand...

Amy 8-11-2006 @ 3:27PM

Brenda - when my daughter was 5 months old, I put her in the Bjorn carrier and talked to her and sang to her in the store. Many times, she would drift off to sleep. When she didn't, she would look at the people and all the colors, she would interact with other kids, she would look at the lights... Every authority in the world (AAP, etc.) says no TV until age 2, and I can't imagine how you would safely put a baby in such a cart as is pictured above, anyway, so it isn't an option for you. Your arms are longer than the baby's. Walk down the middle of the aisle, and reach for things, rather than standing within the baby's arm's reach. And don't put stuff in the "seat" part of the cart where the baby will be able to reach them. Or wear steel toed boots, your choice.

As of April, I will have a 20 month old and a newborn, and I don't plan on using that as an excuse to relax my standards. I guess there are people who use their children as excuses for lots of things - "my house is always a mess, but I have two kids..." or "well, if my kids weren't so I wouldn't have to ." Excuse making is not my style, and it never will be, no matter how many kids I have.

If you don't know how to unload a dishwasher or take something out of the oven without putting your child in front of the television, I'm sorry, but there is something wrong. No wonder so many kids have attention problems, when they have to be entertained by rapid-fire moving pictures every minute of every day. No wonder so many kids can't focus in school, when they're assaulted by programming that is designed to grab and grab and grab their attention from the moment they are old enough to see past the ends of their noses. No teacher could possibly compete with that kind of action, no matter how animated she is.

I don't think that children who watch TV are going to end up serial killers, either, but I do think that using it as a sitter has negative consequences.

Think of it this way - if you hired a sitter or a day care that allowed your children to watch as much television as you allow, would you be happy with them? If the answer is no, then you need to start figuring out new strategies for dealing with your kids. Eons of parents have raised kids without $9000 worth of toys and books, TVs, videos, and every other convenience under the sun - and those mothers didn't have dishwashers and washing machines - they did everything by hand. They didn't have Easy Mac or TV dinners either, most of the time they had to cook from a level of "scratch" that would leave all of us starving. They coped. You can too. But it's ever so much easier to make excuses and cop out by putting them in front of the magic box. You can even justify it to yourself by calling children's programming "educational." Then you can feel like you're doing them a favor. Isn't rationalization magical? I learned it from watching TV.

ann adams 8-11-2006 @ 4:17PM

Amy

No one was criticizing your parenting approach; only your attitude and your generalizations. To label all of us who might have a different approach than yours as lazy and uncaring is not only mean spirited but probably incorrect.

I don't have an SUV and my cellphone stays in my pocket when I'm driving (and most other times as well).

I'm 68 and raising three stairstep great-granddaughters now into or approaching their teens. One has cerebral palsy. I've had then since the youngest was an infant and for a while had all three in diapers or pullups. On the occasions that I had all three with me, I welcomed anything that got me through errands with my sanity intact. I'm not sitting in front of the t.v. watching the soaps and eating bon bons. I'm not perfect but I'm certainly not lazy.

Surely you can find a more civilized way to say "I disagree and here is why".

Laura Snow 8-11-2006 @ 4:35PM

Hope this isn't the same AMY from another topic here that is planning to drug her baby with benadryl for a plane ride *eyeroll*

Ginny 8-11-2006 @ 5:54PM

Oh Amy, YOU JUST WAIT. That's what THIS mom of closely spaced children has to say....YOU JUST WAIT! Mark my words. The party has JUST begun for you.

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