In my part of the woods this has been the "norm" for quite a few years now....My turn:
My surpise to do with kids and supermarkets was at Christmas time. It was a few years ago and I thought it would be a good idea to do some late-night Christmas shopping in a 24 hour Tesco store near to me. It was a few days before Christmas and well-after midnight. I assumed it would be pretty empty and kid free. I was wrong....The store was packed and kids everywhere including toddlers and babies running around and screaming. I asked a member of staff about this (who looked like he was about to gun the little darlings down) and he said that the parents bring the kids to the store "for something to do." This had been the case for about a week. Don't forget, this was after midnight. I left the store after 10 minutes with no shopping. That was the last of my good ideas.
Perhaps its just me, but when I was a kid up to 17, I wasn't allowed anywhere after midnight. When I was 2, at midnight I was asleep, very asleep. How things change...And parents wonder now why their kids are sullen, rude and half asleep during the daytime. Its because the same parents take their brats to Tesco after midnight....