Raising kids and watching them develop into good individuals can be extremely exciting and rewarding, but there are many problems that can arise along the road. One of these difficulties is determining how to deal with children who are sobbing or shouting in public. Everybody has had an irritating encounter in a similar circumstance, and one 23-year-old woman’s experience with this nearly ruined her supper. Read the story and how you would handle the situation.
Source: Reddit
So I (23F) was at a restaurant with my boyfriend (24). The restaurant isn’t a Michelin star esque place, however the place does serve well prepared food, so you can likely guess that the majority of it’s patron’s want to be able to able to enjoy their food.
So while me and my boyfriend were there, there was a family about 2 tables over from us. This family consisted of the parents (who I’d say were in their late twenties to early thirties) and their free children (the oldest couldn’t have been older than 10, while the youngest was around 2). While me and my boyfriend were enjoying our meal, the youngest child began SHRIEKING, for a reason that I can’t fathom. When I say shrieking I’m talking about the ear piercing type that is physically painful.
This goes on for about 10 minutes, and by this point I’m getting annoyed, since I’ve paid to enjoy my meal, and the child isn’t shutting up. I walked over to the family’s table, and asked if someone could take the child outside until it calms down, since people are trying to enjoy their food. The mother got really pissy at me, saying that her son is only a child, and that I need to show some compassion. I responded by telling her that I’ve paid to enjoy my meal, and that if she isn’t going to get her child to be quiet, then she needs to do everyone in the restaurant a favour and take the child outside. After I sit down, I see the mother calling over one of the waiter’s.
She proceeds to tell them that I was rude to her and that I’m making her uncomfortable. One of the other patron’s told the waiter that wasn’t the case, and that she’d been allowing the child to cry while others were trying to eat. The parents left eventually, but not before shooting me an evil look.
I told my friend about this, and she told me that I should have been kinder and more considerate to the family, since being a parent is difficult. I told my friend that they chose to have kids, and, as such, they need to parent them better. My friend didn’t seem to like what I said in the slightest. I need some unbiased advice on if I’m wrong?
Here are a few comments on the story where it was originally posted:
