Parents and their babies/toddlers...

[blas87]

Wal-Mart yesterday was a zoo, like always. I know, my own fault for going there. But this is just inexcusable.

I was getting some more diet bars, and I heard the highest pitch, most shrill shrieking. It got closer and closer. And then, of course, Murphy's Law, all screaming children must congregate around blas...

This guy, couldn't have been much older than me (prolly between 20-23) was pushing a cart with his toddler aged daughter in it. Her face was bright red and she was screaming "DADDDY! DADDDY! I WANT I WANT I WANT I WANT! DADDDDDY!" and the fucking prick was SMILING and found it amusing! AMUSING!!

As they go past me, she reaches her filthy little hands out of the cart and whacks a bunch of boxes of Slimfast bars all over the floor, still screaming "DADDY I WANT! DADDDY! DADDDDDDDYYYYYYY!" he's still smiling and laughing, while my ears are about to pop.

I grab what I need quickly and try to get away as fast as I can. I can still hear the little girl screaming at the top of her lungs. I can only imagine what she threw all over the floor.

[DesignFox]

Well, since we're to blood curdling screams...my favorite was my trip to Hawaii...

I was extremely ill. I had arthritis, cough, stuffy head...I felt like I had gotten hit by a truck.

I brought medicine and figured I'd just sleep for the 11 hours... of course, this is not to be. Up the aisle, about 4 seats in front of my BF and I are a family with two toddlers. They let them run up and down the cabin, bang into people's seats, watch DVD's on their own personal DVD player at TOP VOLUME, and let them scream for cookies. I still can't get the shrill sound of "I WANT A COOOOOOKIE!" out of my skull.


To boot, I had asked the flight attendant if she could please speak to the parents and have them lower the volume on their DVD player, as, not only was it disturbing me, but I was extremely ill and had a headache.

As soon as the FA left to go up to first class, the shitheads turned it all the way back up.

10 fucking hours later, as we're finally approaching the island to land, the little evil hellspawn fell asleep. What are the parents doing at this point?

Taking pictures...with FLASH, and laughing.

I was so grouchy...I said to my BF, "If he wakes his kids up, I will personally choke him with his camera strap...." (I wouldn't really, but you know...)

Inconsiderate assholes.

I'm not bitter...really. Thankfully, my flight home was peaceful.

[Lace Neil Singer]

I can sympathise; as once I was in town, when I felt the tell tale signs of a migraine appearing. -.- Of course, this would be the one day where I'd left my fend off pills at home. So I went into Boots to get some migraine pills to hold off the migraine til I was safely at home, and a bottle of water to keep myself hydrated.

In the queue behind me, at the chemist bit; these pills can only be bought there, there was this demon child from hell shrieking loud enough to shatter glass. Not hungry/tired/cranky screams either, which would be annoying too but at least understandable, but just "I love the sound of my own voice" screaming, from a child at least 4 years old and therefore old enough to understand the concept of being quiet. Mummy dearest is doing nothing; just yacking away on her mobile, ignoring the screaming coming from Rosemary's Baby. There was a problem with the customer in front of me, taking a while to resolve, and in the end I just couldn't stand it any more.

I turned round, my headache starting to throb in my right temple, a "tail" of black and white zigzags on the right side of my vision, and shouted at the top of my voice, "SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!" Now, I don't normally make a habit of swearing and shouting at under fives, but consider the circumstances. Rosemary's Baby shuts up straight away, staring in fear at the madwoman in front of him; Mummy Dearest glares at me. I ignore both and turn to face the counter, revelling in the blessed silence. I eventually get my pills and water and go to take them. Not a single word from Mommy Dearest, not a sound from Rosemary's Baby.

I will also, in the cinema, certainly go to an usher and get a mother with screeching toddler thrown out if I have to; and I certainly have done so. I go to the cinema on a Sunday night specially to avoid shrieking children and their stupid parents. Now, I don't hate kids. I have friends with children and sometimes will even smile at cute little kids I see in the street. What I do hate is people who refuse to disclipline their kids or show the slightest bit of respect for the other people they have to share the world with by letting their kids shriek, mess around and run like idiots. I also am of the belief that kids do not belong anywhere after 9pm, and certainly not in restaurants, cinemas or bars.

Yes, I was a kid myself once; and I certainly acted like a brat a lot of time. The difference is, my parents wouldn't ever allow me to get away with being bratty, and dealt out a firm hand at all times to my brothers and I if we did misbehave in public. They also would only ever go out in the evening alone, with us left with babysitters at first and later my older brother when he reached age 14. They understood the concept that children cramp your style and never tried to force us to fit their lives; they fitted their lives around us. I just wish more kids had as good parents as I did.

[the_std]

I guess that's the thing, Lace, is fitting your life around your child. So many parents these days want to remain cool and not have their previous lives uninterrupted. They don't seem to realize that having kids is a huge, life-changing thing (whether by accident or on purpose), and they don't seem to want to accept the consequence.

It's that mentality, over everything else, that pisses me off the most. I come from a long line of early mothers who had their "prime years" interrupted by a kid, and so I most definitely understand the want to return to how life was before you got knocked up. But it really just does not work that way. These people see kids as an accessory, not a family member.

[Lace Neil Singer]

My mum had my older brother when she was just 19 years old. She just settled down to being a mother, feeling she could do the other stuff later. And, she and my dad did. XD

[tropicsgoddess]

It's nice to have a family outing, but not if it's somewhere that's inappropriate for the child and if that child can't behave. During my Hostessing days at the restaurant, we had this one reservation that would come in with their grandchild and let the little brat run around the lounge! Not only was it disruptive for those eating their dinner, listening/dancing to the live performing band, but also a safety issue with the customers on the dance floor and the staff members coming in and out with trays of stuff!!

[GothicSmurf]

This one may rile up some, but I also think children do not belong in bars. If I want to go out with my friends after a hard week's work, I do not want to hear high pitched yelling and shrieking and have to deal with kids playing tag around my table. I just spent all week being yelled at and dealing with people with the mentality of 2 year olds for Pete's Sake........

Guilty as charged, but my circumstances are slightly different with it. I've been taking my son to concerts since he was 3 years old and many national/ regional bands I'm personally friends with. Usually they give us passes and we watch the show... and sometimes it's done late at night.

Since my son's been doing it for so long, he knows the rules and if he's with me, I don't drink anything besides water (not worth the risk). While sometimes it does get late, usually we're in the green room waiting for the bands to wrap up so they can follow us home and crash for the night.

He's also very aware of the people who are drunk and pays attention to them... and to be honest, he's behaved better then they are. He's also learned the difference between being responsible and being a bad drunk- since alcholism runs in my family, it's important for him to learn early and see that we don't need it to have fun.

With that being said, I don't take him into the bar areas of resturants, nor do I take him with me if I'm going just to hang out or to see a local show. I don't even ask him to get me a beer from the fridge when I have friends over.

[Ljt09863]

you know, it could be so much different if parents just watched their children better..... i mean, at a certain age, kids do cry over little things. but late night movies? honey, those kids should be at home in bed. but just think....if you went to a restruant, and their was a 6 year old child who wasn't loud, was obnoxious,who was well behaved, then your dinner expierence wouldn't be ruined.

i have a 16 month old, and he is so well behaved, my babysitter is amazed by him.but im always at stores, and i will hear kids screaming, and i kept frustrated by them. you know, i understand that kids get upset, and they cry. but as their parent, its YOUR responsibility to take care of them, and calm them down. take them out to the car and sit with them until they are calm enough to go back in. ive left stores before cause my son was getting VERY irritable. why should i upset others cause MY son is crying. (actually,i think ive only had to leave a store once cause he was upset...)