Letting toddlers put their hands all over glass display cases and windows while shopping...?

In article , Rosalie B. says...

"dejablues" wrote:


"Renee" wrote in message
om...
When I'm out shopping with my 16 mos. old I generally try to keep him from
touching store windows and display cases by distracting him and telling
him
if necessary that someone just spent time cleaning that window and we
mustn't "undo" their hard work. When my husband saw me doing that today

I doubt if this reason means that much to a child of that age.

however he said I was being neurotic and that I should let our toddler
touch
the windows and/or display cases if he wants to.

Am I being neurotic?


I think this is one of YMMV issues. It would not have occurred to me
to try to keep a toddler from touching glass windows and cases, since
I think that cleaning the glass in a commercial establishment is
something that must be done periodically regardless of whether people
touch it or not. I can't see that the cleaning crew instructions
would say "IF the glass is dirty - clean it".

The establishment does not necessarily have a cleaning crew. Or the 'cleaning
crew' is whoever of the retail employees is bottom of the rung.

When the glass is dirtied in an obvious way, like by sticky toddler's hands, it
need to be cleaned soon after that. Else from then, until the next routine
cleaning, the employees and the patrons have to look at it.

I never did buy into the idea that it's OK to dirty establishents because they
have a cleaning crew.

Banty

On 20 Jun 2004 08:43:56 -0700, Banty snuck
out of the ether to utter:

The establishment does not necessarily have a cleaning crew. Or the 'cleaning
crew' is whoever of the retail employees is bottom of the rung.

When the glass is dirtied in an obvious way, like by sticky toddler's hands, it
need to be cleaned soon after that. Else from then, until the next routine
cleaning, the employees and the patrons have to look at it.

I never did buy into the idea that it's OK to dirty establishents because they
have a cleaning crew.

Precisely. Having been at the bottom (and top!) rung myself, the
windows *do* need to be cleaned when they get dirty. It's the first
thing a customer sees when entering a store, and the first impression
they'll get...
sorry, channeling Regional Managers monotone instructions EG

Nan

dejablues wrote:

"Renee" wrote in message
...

When I'm out shopping with my 16 mos. old I generally try to keep him from
touching store windows and display cases by distracting him and telling

him

if necessary that someone just spent time cleaning that window and we
mustn't "undo" their hard work. When my husband saw me doing that today
however he said I was being neurotic and that I should let our toddler

touch

the windows and/or display cases if he wants to.

Am I being neurotic?

Thanks!


No, because it *is* messing up someone elses clean-up job, making extra work
for them, and exposing your toddler to germs from all the other people that
have touched it.

That's a bit drastic. You shouldn't allow your toddler to touch door
handles or go to public places at all perhaps!

Mary Ann

Renee wrote:

When I'm out shopping with my 16 mos. old I generally try to keep him from
touching store windows and display cases by distracting him and telling him
if necessary that someone just spent time cleaning that window and we
mustn't "undo" their hard work. When my husband saw me doing that today
however he said I was being neurotic and that I should let our toddler touch
the windows and/or display cases if he wants to.

Am I being neurotic?

Thanks!


I think it depends where you are and the nature of the display.
In a shop not geared towards children I would certainly not allow my son
to touch anything, but in a toy shop where they e.g had models in a
glass case, while I would supervise him, I would not chastise him for
putting a finger on the cabinet while looking. The cabinet is there to
protect the goods underneath. The shop is there to sell the items and
should expect that a cabinet displaying items a child is interested in
is going to be touched. I would of course make sure my child had clean
hands.
If a shop had a wonderful window display geared towards children e.g. at
Xmas time or some big Lego city I think it's fine for a child to touch
the glass while pointing at something. I mean, I wouldn't encourage him,
but I wouldn't worry about it either.

Mary Ann

In article , Mary Ann Tuli says...



dejablues wrote:

"Renee" wrote in message
...

When I'm out shopping with my 16 mos. old I generally try to keep him from
touching store windows and display cases by distracting him and telling

him

if necessary that someone just spent time cleaning that window and we
mustn't "undo" their hard work. When my husband saw me doing that today
however he said I was being neurotic and that I should let our toddler

touch

the windows and/or display cases if he wants to.

Am I being neurotic?

Thanks!


No, because it *is* messing up someone elses clean-up job, making extra work
for them, and exposing your toddler to germs from all the other people that
have touched it.

That's a bit drastic. You shouldn't allow your toddler to touch door
handles or go to public places at all perhaps!

No, silly.

Door handles are intended to be touched, and aren't things that patrons are to
look through to see merchandise.

Nobody is saying toddlers shouldn't go out at all or not touch anything. It's
that parents need to recognize, and teach, what isn't appropriate or in some
(even small)way damaging to touch.

Banty

"Mary Ann Tuli" wrote in message
...


dejablues wrote:

"Renee" wrote in message
...

When I'm out shopping with my 16 mos. old I generally try to keep him
from
touching store windows and display cases by distracting him and telling

him

if necessary that someone just spent time cleaning that window and we
mustn't "undo" their hard work. When my husband saw me doing that today
however he said I was being neurotic and that I should let our toddler

touch

the windows and/or display cases if he wants to.

Am I being neurotic?

Thanks!


No, because it *is* messing up someone elses clean-up job, making extra
work
for them, and exposing your toddler to germs from all the other people
that
have touched it.

That's a bit drastic. You shouldn't allow your toddler to touch door
handles or go to public places at all perhaps!

Mary Ann

Going out is fine. Touching things? That's another story! Why would a
toddler need to touch door handles anyway?

On Mon, 21 Jun 2004 19:27:59 -0400, "dejablues"
wrote:

Why would a toddler need to touch door handles anyway?

To open the door?

Toddlers like to be able to do things for themselves.


--
Dorothy

There is no sound, no cry in all the world
that can be heard unless someone listens ..

The Outer Limits

"Banty" wrote in message
...
In article , Mary Ann Tuli says...
dejablues wrote:
"Renee" wrote in message
...
When I'm out shopping with my 16 mos. old I generally try to keep him
from
touching store windows and display cases by distracting him and telling
him
if necessary that someone just spent time cleaning that window and we
mustn't "undo" their hard work. When my husband saw me doing that today
however he said I was being neurotic and that I should let our toddler
touch
the windows and/or display cases if he wants to.
Am I being neurotic?
Thanks!


No, because it *is* messing up someone elses clean-up job, making extra
work
for them, and exposing your toddler to germs from all the other people
that
have touched it.

That's a bit drastic. You shouldn't allow your toddler to touch door
handles or go to public places at all perhaps!

No, silly.

Door handles are intended to be touched, and aren't things that patrons
are to
look through to see merchandise.

Nobody is saying toddlers shouldn't go out at all or not touch anything.
It's
that parents need to recognize, and teach, what isn't appropriate or in
some
(even small)way damaging to touch.

Banty


It's true the salespeople's responsibility is to clean their display cases
over the course of the day. Like any business, it's alot of upkeep to
maintain a quality image. It would be polite for children *and* adults not
to smudge w/ their hands or tap all over the display cases. Just the other
day at the mall, some parent let their kids run amok and managed to crack a
large cosmetic display case in the process. I'm sure it all started with
just touching....

Banty wrote:

In article , Mary Ann Tuli says...



dejablues wrote:


"Renee" wrote in message
. com...


When I'm out shopping with my 16 mos. old I generally try to keep him from
touching store windows and display cases by distracting him and telling

him


if necessary that someone just spent time cleaning that window and we
mustn't "undo" their hard work. When my husband saw me doing that today
however he said I was being neurotic and that I should let our toddler

touch


the windows and/or display cases if he wants to.

Am I being neurotic?

Thanks!


No, because it *is* messing up someone elses clean-up job, making extra work
for them, and exposing your toddler to germs from all the other people that
have touched it.

That's a bit drastic. You shouldn't allow your toddler to touch door
handles or go to public places at all perhaps!


No, silly.

I was addressing the point about exposing germs to your toddler from
touching display cabinets.

Door handles are intended to be touched, and aren't things that patrons are to
look through to see merchandise.

Nobody is saying toddlers shouldn't go out at all or not touch anything.

True.

It's
that parents need to recognize, and teach, what isn't appropriate or in some
(even small)way damaging to touch.

Yes, I agree.

Mary Ann

It's true the salespeople's responsibility is to clean their display cases
over the course of the day. Like any business, it's alot of upkeep to
maintain a quality image. It would be polite for children *and* adults not
to smudge w/ their hands or tap all over the display cases. Just the other
day at the mall, some parent let their kids run amok and managed to crack a
large cosmetic display case in the process. I'm sure it all started with
just touching....


There is a HUGE difference between a child running amok and a child not
being chastised for pointing to something through a window or display
cabinet under the supervision of an adult.
TBH, I would not patronise a shop which scorned my child for smudging
their cabinet by say pointing and asking questions about a wonderful
model train kept under a glass cabinet. I'm not saying I would encourage
it only that it's not such a huge deal.

Mary Ann