A shopping trip

This chapter presents a case study of Linda. Linda was 3 years, 6 months old and had a younger sister of 18 months. Linda would touch things in shops, pick them up and demand that Mum bought her some sweets. Her mother had got so upset about taking her shopping that she tried to do all her shopping in the two mornings that Linda was in the playgroup. Mum took Linda on very short shopping expeditions and into smaller shops – in fact, first to the local village post office, where Linda was able to post a letter in the post-box. Some parents with young children may try to leave them at home when they go shopping and other children cope well in the supermarket. The child tries to grab the sweets or to tantrum – Mum tries to maintain her position. Other people start to take notice. Mum picks up the sweets and puts them in the shopping trolley.