Shut your damn kid up.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Exactly that. If I was sitting in McDonalds and there were children making a racket around me, I'd expect that. However, in a nice restaurant, I do not expect it and shouldn't have to have put up with a selfish mother and her out of control brats. Honestly, if you can afford to eat at a posh restaurant, you can afford a sitter.

I will always ask a waiter to get the manager over in a restaurant; or go talk to an usher in the cinema. Cuz I know that these bad parents will act as tho you're the Baby Eating Bishop Of Bath And Wells if you dare to criticize their little darlings.

[Alpha Strike]

Babies cry.

It's not like they have an unlimited vocabulary to tell people what's wrong with them.

Yeah it's annoying, but is it really worth the hostility?

When I go out, especially to movies or restaraunts, I feel that expecting a certain amount of quiet is not unreasonable.

So while I don't think tiny infants or little children are necessarily yelling and screaming just to irritate me, if I'm stuck by them while they do this I DO get irritated (by the high volume of noise) and pissed off (at the parent not doing anything).

[marty]

Yep. The kid crying I could handle, the mother pretty much harassing it I couldn't.

[thegiraffe]

Sorry but this is mean. As a mother i have had my baby cry for no reason!. You can not just pick the child up or shove a bottle in the mouth. There is problem called " Colic crying " maybe dealing with a loud cry is terrible for your ears. But try to think how the parent is going through?. Its not fun when your child is sad and there is Nothing no one can do!. I been there. Taking to a child as she did and not get upset was good parenting.
When i read the Title i "giggled" thinking it was a older child. But as i see a young Infant, It was very heart aching for me!...i am sure the Author meant well and is mad. But think next time when a young baby cries. There are reasons. You really want her Changing the diaper in line , right in front of you?
I think not.

I think the OP was more upset with how the mother didn't handle it. Instead of trying to get a 6-8 month old to say 'mommy' (which likely will NOT happen - the first word typically doesn't appear until about 12 months), she appeared to be agitating it further by waving her hands in its face. There's ignoring the problem because it just won't be solved, and then there's making the problem worse. She was making the problem worse.

[GuinnessGirl]

Hey all,
I am new to the site and giggled when I saw the topic.

I am a new mom and when my girl starts screaming in the restaurant, store, etc either I or DH take her outside so others don't have to deal with it. Granted she is only 6 months old (and cute as a bug) I know people don't want to hear her screaming.

My BIL thinks it's "cute" when his 2 girls (ages 4 and 2) scream like banshees in a restaurant. He is now trying to teach my girl to scream which I put my foot down on immediately!

I can understand that babies cry, I NEVER get mad when I hear a baby crying, it breaks my heart in a million pieces, but, if it is a 6 year old screaming non stop. Big issue with that!

Anyhow-sorry to rant.

I absolutely LOVE this sight. I will post a few of my SC stories later.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Yeah, spanking your child if they're being little brats is not child abuse. My mom spanked us when we were acting like assholes, she doesn't consider it abuse, and she's the judge in her county that handles all the real child abuse cases. Believe me, spanking your kid doesn't even register compared to real cases of abuse that she's told us about. That's another reason I find it so damn hard to tolerate spoiled children.

Of course it's not. Reasonable people know the difference. However, try it in public sometime and see what happens. To many unreasonable people out there who just like to make trouble.

The problem here is that the busybodies and people who lack any sense of proportion and over react when they see a kid get swatted on their well padded little bum are the ones who make parents afraid to discipline their kids, at least in public. So many assholes with phones make it nigh impossible for parents to do what's right by their kids. Then they complain when a kid seems out of control in a store somewhere.

[marty]

Yeah, try that now and the same people who think it's sooo awful that some parent somewhere is "not shutting their damn kid up" will be on their cells to Social Services because it's sooo awful that some parent is trying to discipline their kid in public.

Yeah, spanking your child if they're being little brats is not child abuse. My mom spanked us when we were acting like assholes, she doesn't consider it abuse, and she's the judge in her county that handles all the real child abuse cases. Believe me, spanking your kid doesn't even register compared to real cases of abuse that she's told us about. That's another reason I find it so damn hard to tolerate spoiled children.

[digilight]

Babies cry.

It's not like they have an unlimited vocabulary to tell people what's wrong with them.

Yeah it's annoying, but is it really worth the hostility?

Ree, I don't think its just the babies crying that bothers people (well maybe true dicks but those would be the SCs that we all see). What bothers me is the parents who aren't proactive in dealing with their children. I will take the kids out of a store or restaraunt if they are acting up. They know I will and that I won't fool around on that subject (hell I've done it before).

Its the parents who just sit their acting all la-di-da about it. Sure babies and children will cry and pitch a royal bitch fit sometimes. Mine do it, your granddaughter does it, and pretty much any of us with kids,nieces,nephews,etc experience it. The biggest difference is what we do during the situation. Do we allow our children to scream at a point that would drown out a bombing raid siren, or do we deal with it.

We (the wife and I) are lucky. Normally I will stay home while she does the shopping (I hate stores anyways). But at restaraunts one of us will imediatly handle the problem. Now I realize that this isn't a possibility and as easily said as done with all people. You may be on your own out and about with one or two small children. And yeah there may be times when you just can't remove the child like I've said I do. But these also aren't the times when you are just shopping for a movie rental, or going out to the Outback for a steak. These would be the times when you are out buying food because there isn't anything at home to eat, or you are picking up medicine for yourself or the kids.

I'm the biggest opponent against screaming children and jerry springer parents letting their kids run around like wild banshee's at restaraunts. I deal with it immediatly so I'm not a hypocrite. If I let my children do what pisses me off then I would be no better then the unwashed masses that drive me insane.

Also Ree, good luck with the grandbaby, As you well know it gets easier as you go (she will sleep thru the night soon hopefully and so will you guys).

And just to set the record straight, I understand difficult children. My son is ADHD and can be a handful at times, my nephews are twins who will be 2 next month and we all know how kids can feed off of each other, imagine this at 2 years old. There mother is a saint in my book.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

My brother once tried to pitch a fit (rolling on the floor screaming) in a grocery store when he was three and my mom tore his ass up, right there by the door. He never did it again.

Yeah, try that now and the same people who think it's sooo awful that some parent somewhere is "not shutting their damn kid up" will be on their cells to Social Services because it's sooo awful that some parent is trying to discipline their kid in public.

[Catwoman2965]

Or scream just for the sheer hell of it. Now, I expect an infant to cry, that's the only way they communicate. But a 3-5 year old child who just banshee-screeches at Volume Eleven, just to hear the sound of their own voice, that's not right.

Especially when they're close enough to you to shriek right into your ear...!

Oh yeah, DEFINITELY a difference between a crying infant, and a toddler having a shit fit and screaming at the top of their lungs, simply for attention. Reminds me of the time my friend and I were in a craft store, and we heard, constantly, as we couldn't get away from it, a woman saying "now, so and so, stop that" as the kid was shrieking at the top of his lungs! Don't you know they got behind us in line to pay, and the kid was about 4; still screaming, with Grandma. At one point, he stopped for a second, looked around, saw no one was paying attention to him, and started up again. What a brat! if your kid is having a major hissy fit, then its time to go....i don't care, get what you need, and get out...don't linger, and shop, as the kid will only get worse.

crying babies, well, they can't help it, and generally if you do something, change the diaper, give them a bottle, they'll calm down.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Or scream just for the sheer hell of it. Now, I expect an infant to cry, that's the only way they communicate. But a 3-5 year old child who just banshee-screeches at Volume Eleven, just to hear the sound of their own voice, that's not right.

Especially when they're close enough to you to shriek right into your ear...!

Agreed. I can tolerate a crying baby; however, if it's a schoolage child going "AHHH! AHHH! AHHH!" for no damn reason, I just want to go up to said child and shout, "Shut the hell up!" Then smack their parents for good measure. Had I done that around my parents, I would have gotten a clip round the ear and no treat.

[marty]

It's not the babies crying that pisses me off so much, it's the damn parents who do nothing to try to stop it. The kid looked not even a year old yet, so I don't think ignoring it was going to be the solution. It made me mad because she was saying, "Say mamma say mamma!" and not holding the child, comforting it, changing its diaper, putting a pacifer in its mouth, etc. She was waving her hands in its face trying to get it to talk. It's not the toddlers I'm talking about, it's the children who do not understand the spoken language yet. I've seen so many people out in public actively ignoring their nearly newborn children who seem to need something. And the more that kid gets pissed off, the louder it screams, and the more the vein in my temple starts twitching....

My brother once tried to pitch a fit (rolling on the floor screaming) in a grocery store when he was three and my mom tore his ass up, right there by the door. He never did it again.

[XCashier]

There is a HUGE difference between a crying baby (infant / toddler) and a whiny little brat who knows better and just shouts "I want chocolate" or "Buy me a new toy".

Or scream just for the sheer hell of it. Now, I expect an infant to cry, that's the only way they communicate. But a 3-5 year old child who just banshee-screeches at Volume Eleven, just to hear the sound of their own voice, that's not right.

Especially when they're close enough to you to shriek right into your ear...!

[InsanityInc]

Crying babies are one thing. As mentioned several times by other people, they can't help it, it's their only way to communicate. Children that are older however.... Grrr. When my daughter tries to pull the screaming thing, she gets one "indoor voice" reminder. Then we're out of there. The only time I didn't remove her from a store was when we were at the shop or don't eat point. Parents who just let their older child scream, throw a fit, etc., I have to agree, shut the kid up!!

[Canarr]

It's actually funny when you see small kids - two, three, four years old - running around, playing, then suddenly fall to the ground. More often than not, they'll sit up, bewildered, then look around to see if mommy/daddy are watching. If there's nobody looking, they'll just get up and carry on with their playing like nothing happened. If parents or siblings are nearby, they'll spontaneously burst into tears.

Gets me every time.