To think this lady should not have shushed us

[Chrysanthemumtea]

In park today with a friend an our three year olds. Walking round the partially fenced pond. Three year olds running too far ahead just as we walk past woman on bench holding a baby.

"Oi, biff and boff [for that is what we have called our children], come back, too far" we shouted, so they could hear us.

Baby holding woman gave us stern look and shushed us.

Now I get that she may be the exhausted mum of a non sleeping young baby and may have just got her baby to sleep after hours of rocking and shushing. I genuinely do remember the sheer desperation and how difficult it all is when you are tired and when you are desperate for your tired baby to get some rest as well as for you to.

But it was a public park. And we really didn't want out kids to run our of sight (round corner of pond) and fall in.

Aibu to think even the exhausted mum of a sleeping baby should recognise not letting your kid drown is a reasonable reason to shout at them in park even if there is a sleeping baby nearby?

Ps if you are that mum it does get better I promise. You will probably be telling stories one day about how you were so tired you one told two women in a park not to shout at their kids for running away.

[YouTheCat]

She was probably deranged with sleep deprivation.

[Famzilla]

I shushed some school boys in the park the other day because they were shouting and it woke my baby up.



I chucked to myself about it the next day when I wasn't feeling so exhausted and stressed. To be fair I would have told the queen to put a sock in it I was so far off the end of my tether.

[pasbeaucoupdegendarme]

YANBU, you were in a public space. All sorts of noises happen, aircraft, ducks, children, children's parents....

Having said that, I shushed a little girl once in a supermarket checkout, but she was deliberately shoogling my daughter's pram and shouting when I had already said very clearly to her (and her mum) please not to wake her up as she and I were exhausted.

[OlympiaFox]

It's unreasonable to expect reasonableness from the extremely sleep deprived, especially when you're responsible for threatening to wake their finally sleeping baby.

[RandomInternetStranger]

I remember storming outside one beautiful summer evening and yelling blue bloody murder at the neighbour's for daring to have their dinner outside and staying there for a couple of drinks laughing till the unreasonable hour of 8pm. In my new mum sleep deprived not eaten a hot meal in weeks state I was being perfectly reasonable of course.

[2Retts]

RandomInternetStranger, how did the neighbours react?

[Monty27]

Oh dear, poor woman. You don't go to a park for quiet. Aw bless her

[MrsMook]

I had a mantra when observing perfectly normal toddler behaviour when DS1 was an innocent little baby, "my time will come" and oh yes, it did indeed come...

[bragmatic]

I got shushed by someone working on a computer in a cafe once. Or my 8 month old did, for babbling. I told her she should go to the office.

[DancingLady]

I shouted at a barking dog to shut up once, DD was asleep in her pram and I really needed a break.

[LikesAChallenge]

Apart from the possibly sleep deprived mother on the park bench, why did you allow your children to run so far ahead without stopping them earlier.

On a separate note, I was taught that it was not ladylike to shout when out in public.

[LikesAChallenge]

*to shout to others further away

[DoItTooJulia]

There's always one. likesAChllenge, wind your neck in.

[TheRealAmandaClarke]

YANBU. Of course.
I expect to hear much shouting in a park.
And I condpsider shushing to be outrageously rude. It really prickles me.
But. But normal rules o not apply to sleep deprived mothers IMHO. And unless she shot someone, just let it go.

[BeverleyMoss]

I have shushed spontaneously before in such circumstances, give her a break she probably is all you have surmised re tired etc.

It's a non event for you, but she's probably on her last straw.

[ivykaty44]

You are going to have trouble getting people to be quite in a public place, totally bizarre to even try to ssshh people in a park where children go to play and make noise letting of steam.

[TheRealAmandaClarke]

Once when walking with ds in the pram, trying to get him off to sleep I narrowed by eyes and shushed at a passing fire engine

[Misspixietrix]

YNBU you were in a public place. New mum also not being unreasonable if she was generally in sleep deprived zombie mode :)

[pianodoodle]

YANBU but it was probably done out of frustration as others have said :)

The best tip I got with my first was not to tip toe around them when they're asleep even though it feels like the thing to do. That way they sleep through almost anything.

Now I have another plus toddler the baby is more likely to wake when it goes quiet as it's unfamiliar in our house

[Melonbreath]

I remember having a go at the postman for putting post through the letter box too loudly. I had just got dd to sleep in the pram in the hallway.

[pippitysqueakity]

Yeah we'll 'ladylike' rules made up by men in the main, can gtf.

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

She might have been completely at the end of her tether and it just slipped out, have a bit of empathy. She might also have been thinking that if you'd kept your 3 year olds by your side as would be sensible when going round an unguarded pond there would have been no need for shouting.

[pippitysqueakity]

Well

[crispyporkbelly]

Yabu. Just take yourself back to that place and be more understanding. Every time I would finally get my baby to sleep a child would scream or a mother would shout somewhere close by. Made me want to nut them.

[shakinstevenslovechild]

I once shushed a lorry backing up and beeping really loudly, and then cried, I remember those days all too well.