<p>Not to belabor the point, but as a single parent, I “dragged” my kid everywhere with me. Malls/stores were actually great outings - we had one near us with an awesome train setup that he loved. And, for some reason, for a couple of years (when he was maybe 3 or 4), going up and down escalators was his idea of fun; we’d ride to the top, turn around and come right back down, over and over, laughing like, well, children. Got to enjoy the little (and free) things!</p>
<p>He’s definitely not as good a guy about it as mcat2’s, but at least he’s not “miserable” at malls now!</p>
<p>Scout–yeah, I often had to, too. Not single, but H’s hours made him fairly unavailable for leaving kids home with. That’s why I’d look at families (the ones with the tired, cranky kids/spouses) who could have left kid/spouse home, and wonder why they didn’t.</p>
<p>I’ll also add that, when we were low-income and had no air conditioning or money for fun places, I took them to the mall a couple times to cool off and play in any available play areas, look at books, ride escalators, throw pennies in fountains, etc.</p>
<p>But no shopping was going on–It was purely a recreational outing.</p>