To think this woman shouldn’t have interfered in the restaurant?

Right. It makes no sense that the woman's comment stopped her from parenting.

I've been to several restaurants with play areas. The kids stay in the play areas and play. If they do come out their parents generally take them back and stay with them, not let them go backwards and forwards at will. Also, how was this child swinging on his seat in a play area?

No, it is not at all about a 3 year old being a 3 year old.

It is about a parent either not understanding what 'being a parent' means, or about a parent not 'caring enough about their child' to start actually parenting it. I think, and hope, that the OP falls within the first category, because if she takes to heart what the majority of people are saying here, then she will know to start finding out about what being a parent really means and entails.

Except that when someone goes to a zoo they should expect animal shit.

No-one going out for a meal should have to expect badly behaved children!!! It is someone's business if a child is disruptive in a restaurant. There are ways of dealing with children playing up and good parents know this and act.

Weak excuse, very weak excuse.

This thread isn't going quite the way you thought, is it?

What is it about OP’s comments that makes the idea that the woman was shrieking in the situation so unlikely to you? Why would she even have noticed the woman if what she was doing wasn’t distracting? What would have been the point of OP’s post if the situatio wasn’t the way she claimed?

Unless the OP has contradicted themselves or they have made a claim that is impossible or difficult for it to be true, speculating that what they have said is made up is pointless and merely used to enable posters to pile on criticism or be used as a baseless way to shore up a different opinion. So pretty much exactly “a Trump”, yes.

So speculating on the possibility that OP wasn't giving an accurate account (hardly unlikely given her responses since) means I'm doing a Trump? Give me a break.

Shrieking does tend to be thrown at women and children a lot more than men because it indicates higher tones. If it had been a man it might have been “barking”, “bellowing” or just yelling.

Personally I’ve heard plenty of women (and children) shrieking. I’ve occasionally shrieked myself. I don’t find the idea at all unbelievable. And the OPs child being badly behaved certainly doesn’t make it any less likely to have happened.

You can of course, make up your own “alternative facts”, they may well have the popularity of Trump’s, but also the validity.

The woman sounds like an over excited idiot. She should have minded her own business

I agree, but that still doesn’t mean OP should waste money by not eating an already paid for meal because her toddler is running around. Who’s to say he wouldn’t calm down when the food arrived?

True enough, but I'm inclined to think OP's claim is baseless, too. "Shrieking" sounds unlikely (ditto squealing) and it's a term only thrown at women, which makes me side-eye it even more. It still comes down to OP's child being disruptive enough, and endangering himself enough, even in such a setting, to draw another diner's attention and concern, and OP trying to blame the other diner instead of controlling or removing her child until he calmed down.

Sure. Or she could have got on the table and danced the Can Can. But since the only one who was there was the OP and nothing else she’s said contradicts her claim of shrieking, coming up with an alternative scenario that would make the whole thing totally different is baseless.

That's assuming the claims she was shrieking or squealing have any basis in reality, of course ... maybe she just (gasp) raised her voice to make herself heard over the general noise level and, probably, the noise OP's child was making?

@jellyfishbubbles ignore me. It's the EU I was thinking of 🤦🏼‍♀️

Shrieking isn’t simply annoying. It’s dangerous. Shrieking isn’t “in order” when someone’s in a precarious situation because it makes the person in that situation more likely to fall/lose concentration/etc. Speaking up calmly, raised voice if it’s noisy, moving to intercept - all potentially helpful. Shrieking or other distracting sounds - more likely to lead to a hurt child. Drinking isn’t a good excuse for poor behaviour, even on Mother’s day. (But equally, that applies to OP and lack of control of her child).

meant we couldn’t deal with DS properly as she was taking our attention
This is just nonsense, you know it is. Give over.

Going against the grain here OP but I think she was unreasonable to interfere. I would never say anything to another parent unless I thought they were completely unaware and it was dangerous.

The crucial detail - exactly HOW op was dealing with it - is conveniently missing. People can't possibly comment fairly without knowing all the important bits.

And the restaurant woman may have been speaking sternly or whatever but 'shrieking'? Really?

A ‘silly’ (your words) child who can’t behave in a restaurant is too young to take for a meal out. It’s that simple, really. Selfish of you to allow your child to disturb other people who are paying to enjoy their own meals.

The shrieking would irritate me. However, if she continually saw a child about to fall and she’s concerned for the child (most people aren’t heartless bitches) then shrieking might be in order. Plus if she’s had a couple of drinks maybe she’s more animated than usual. I’d rather someone shrieked though than have a badly hurt or scalded child.

When both me and DB fell off bench seats at home, I cracked my head open which needed stitches and my brother did the same which required stitches too, or he cut his eyebrow area, which left a scar. This is on a normal floor, not a great height. This was also after DM repeatedly telling us don’t swing on the benches back and forth which we of course ignored until we got hurt. Even after that, I was careful but DB wasnt, until he got hurt. If a child falls hard from a chair the least they’d be lucky to escape with is a bruise, next concussion etc. You can’t control in which direction or how hard they’ll fall. I was out with SIL recently in a museum cafe, her 4.5 month old baby was placed on a padded corner seat, sharp edge of table which luckily he wasn’t near to hit himself on and she would never allow that but you can see how accidents could happen with more boisterous kids.

Shrieking in this sort of situation is itself dangerous. It’s not a reasonable thing to do and it does make things more difficult for everyone else. But if DS swung on the chair or ran off more than once without you being instantly there to stop it, it’s your parenting that’s the real problem here. And while shrieking is distracting, a child putting themselves and others into danger should be enough to distract you from that annoyance.

Yes, OP has described her both shrieking and squealing. Sounds more like the sort of sounds her three year old would have been making.

Yes.To keep things light I didn’t go down the HI a route with admission for monitoring. Crying child, upset mum, guests worried by what ifs. Staff completing accident form.

Depending on what DC hits on the way down throw in the possibility of a few hours at A&E..