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AIBU?

to ask mums of toddlers not to use screens in places that aren't appropriate.

266 replies

getoffmybramblepatch · 28/01/2015 07:23

I went out for a meal with dh yesterday without our children. We do take them out for meals often and our 20 month old is usually really well behaved because he has been taught to be. If he ever does get impatient we just talk to him at a level appropriate for the dinner table and maybe give him some colouring in to do or have a game of I spy.
either way, we try to communicate with him to keep him calm and we'll behaved at all times, for our own sanity as much as everyone else's.

Yesterday we were enjoying our child free meal until a family arrived at a table on the other side of the room and a child of about the same age wouldn't settle. Nothing was said to this child.. No discipline, no chat, the first line to come from mum and dad was "here, watch pepper pig". Out comes the tablet and on comes pepper pig so loud to the point where I can't hear myself think. It would have been quieter if we had stayed at home with our dc and this is usually a nice place.
I've seen it happen a lot lately, and pepper pig seems to be programme of choice. Aibu to think that I don't give a toss about the rod you are making for your own backs, but to let these parents know how irritating it is when this is your first resort in places that have etiquette?

OP posts:
cedricsneer · 28/01/2015 07:24

BahahahahaConfused

meglet · 28/01/2015 07:24
Biscuit
sebsmummy1 · 28/01/2015 07:25

This ain't going to end well lol

I think you are well within your rights to complain to the waiting staff and hope the management will request the sound goes down.

AuntieStella · 28/01/2015 07:26

The problem is not the screen, it's the amplified sound.

And it's just as wrong whether it's a child, a teen, a proselytiser, or anyone else who imposes their soundtrack into a public area.

I was stuck on a bus with someone (won't give age) playing a noisy computer game with music/effects. Horrible.

EdYouKateShaun · 28/01/2015 07:27

"Our 20 month old is well behaved because he had been taught to be"

Hahaha you ain't seen nothing yet!

getoffmybramblepatch · 28/01/2015 07:27

Well I know it probably won't end well. I'm venting frustration. How hard is it to talk to your child before turning them into a TV zombie with even less of an attention span than before?

OP posts:
nippey · 28/01/2015 07:27
Biscuit
MythicalKings · 28/01/2015 07:28

Agree that the screen isn't the problem, the noise is.

Catsize · 28/01/2015 07:28

The volume was inappropriate. They probably knew that talking and colouring etc. wasn't going to work from their previous experiences of their child. Congratulations on having a child who will sit in a restaurant and colour etc. Try walking in others' shoes.

Glastokitty · 28/01/2015 07:28

Isn't it Peppa Pig?

treaclesoda · 28/01/2015 07:28

mums of toddlers.

Do toddlers not have two parents these days then?

DearGirl · 28/01/2015 07:28

At my friends wedding a dad kept his 2,6 and 10 year old quiet by watching toy story with the sound on!! We were in a country house so he could have parked them in the lounge downstairs to watch it.

GoodArvo · 28/01/2015 07:29

I hate it when people give kids a DS or phone to play with and don't turn the sound off in public. Those beeping noises are really annoying and I have asked people to turn the noises off in restaurants before. Those children are older than yours though.

You're probably going to come in for stick on here, because you don't know what a two or three year old is like and they can get much more restless than a 20 month old.

caravanista13 · 28/01/2015 07:29

YA definitely NBU! I may be judgey but it's lazy parenting. Not a popular view though I suspect!

Branleuse · 28/01/2015 07:29

haha. well behaved baby has been taught to be well behaved.

TookALittleLongWayRound · 28/01/2015 07:29

My heart bleeds for you... Really it does. Hmm

superram · 28/01/2015 07:29

I don't have a problem with the screen but earphones are a must. I have an adapter so both mine have earphones. I wouldn't use this in a restaurant for my 2 but perhaps the parents in this instance should have. I do use them on a train journey after we have done colouring, puzzles, lunch and then we have all had enough!

wigglesrock · 28/01/2015 07:29

Did you ask them to turn it down, or ask the staff. I really couldn't care if people/kids use screens while they're out as long as I can't really hear it, mind you I've had times when I've had to listen to other people's conversations when I've been out and it's been more dull. It's Peppa by the way, not Pepper or God as we used to call her in our house.

WipsGlitter · 28/01/2015 07:30

First off it's Peppa, not Pepper.

I think tablets can be really useful at certain times. I have a child with SN and we used an iPad to keep him quite during a meal, but the volume was low or we use headphones. However it should not be the default way to entertain your child.

Liondemer · 28/01/2015 07:30

My dd is only 10 months but I have friends with older dc. I don't think I've ever seen a 20 month old playing I spy!

Yabu about the screen but not about the noise.

Catsize · 28/01/2015 07:30

Oh, and they might be critical of parents who abandon a 20mth old to go out for a meal. Grin

LineRunner · 28/01/2015 07:31

I agree it was an amplified noise issue.

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treaclesoda · 28/01/2015 07:31

I wondered how long it would be until someone trotted out the 'lazy parenting' statement. Hmm

Turning the volume down is simple good manners though.

Mrscog · 28/01/2015 07:33

YANBU about noise in a restaurant - if TV is to be watched it should be with headphones.

However, you are being sexist by highlighting 'Mums' as the culprit and this 'our 20 month old is usually really well behaved because he has been taught to be'. Ha ha ha ha ha. You are merely lucky, you have a child who is receptive to parenting techniques. My 20mo was a bloody nightmare despite doing all the 'gold standard non-TV watching' parenting out there.

EhricLovesTheBhrothers · 28/01/2015 07:34

Your 20 month old has been taught how to behave in restaurants?
Sorry but you lost me there.

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