Child reading while mother on social media

Maybe she values reading so highly that this is the 4th or 5th time she's listened to him read that book. She's a bit sick of it, but he's enjoying reading so she's letting him read it a final time before he hands it back. She listened carefully the first times, but at this point she knows he can do it. Every evening she reads to him and he reads to her. She's taught him that reading helps you regulate (not in those words), so he asks to read when he's sad or tired or having a bad morning. This has been a bad morning, so she desperately needs a few minutes to herself where she can fit it in.

I listen to my DC read almost every day; I read to them every day. Sometimes I'm not very focused the 30th time I've read the same book or the 6th time they've read one. I've made my DD read the last chapter just before we leave in the morning because it's got to go back that day or wait a whole week and we've read a chapter every night except the one when she has a late activity and still not quite finished.

Don't be so judgemental of a tiny snapshot of someone doing the right thing less than perfectly.

Had the OP worded it differently, this could have been an interesting discussion.

Instead, the OP has chosen to judge someone's (who might not even be a parent) parenting because they were on the phone and from how much time OP believes they spent getting ready.

other parents can be upsetting to witness, ignoring their kids but i guess most of us have busy lives

Not really relevant to this, but I used to always see a mum and two girls on the tube on my way to work. They were obv on their way to school and work. The older girl was about 8 and would be reading a horrid Henry or similar, and the youngest was obviously in reception and would be doing her home reading with her mum. I was always somewhat in awe of the good use of time with the tube journey, as well as the logistics of taking primary aged kids to school on the tube into central London!

You were tempted to shame the lady in front of a child. How perfect of you.

Oh dear op....a version of this thread is up at least once a week. A poster says "i saw x example of sonething we'd all actually, in RL think was pretty crap parenting" aibu to think so too? Responses will be:
A snapshot
B unknown disability
C dramatic extenuating circumstances, usually the funeral of a close relative

and so on.

Any attempt to drag the thread onto a more useful footing about the actual issue, in this case parents ignoring children in favour of phones will be bulldozed by people returning to the specfic incident in the OP. There will be a willful denial that this is a common feature of parenting even though we all know it is and that it WONT always be any of A-C above.

Many people are addicted to their phones - me included. Everything else is boring. We scroll when we watch tv, when we work, when we cook. You cannot connect to the person next to you if you’re on your phone. You can hmm and nod but there’s no real connection and interaction.
Tbh, in public most of us try better simply because we are more alert and aware of what we are doing.
If that’s her better - yes, it’s sad for the child.

I agree this is just so sad

Just too much judging OP! Judge yourself first.

Yabu. You witnessed a brief moment and decided to judge her.

Did you start this thread on your phone? Gosh, I hope not. I mean, where are your children? Should you not be reading to them?

Why?
You made so made assumptions about her based on the fact she was wearing make-up, what she was wearing, the fact she didn't look "stressed" (so clearly not working).
You assumed she was the mother, had neglected the child to put her make-up on, ignored the child in her home the night before so the child was doing reading last minute.
All negative things.

Maybe she is a nanny, or even an older sister. Or a mum that is a SAHP. Maybe the child loves reading, and was just doing that on the tube to pass the time. What meaningful activities can you actually do on the tube anyway?

I hope that if you see her again, you do say something. I look forward to her thread on here.

Don't be silly. The mother could not possibly value reading or enjoy a book from time to time because she likes to wear makeup and athleisure wear.

YABVU

judging based on a snap shop in time and the fact that she was nicely dressed

I judge you for your nasty judgey pants thread

For all you know, the woman wasn’t even her mother.

Children shouldn’t be reading when they are tired so doing it in the morning is often the right time. It’s just most families are busy rushing around getting ready to get to school and/or work on time.

But instead you came here to shame her

I value reading too. I read to my dc every day without fail and listen to them read too. You have no idea whether or not this woman values reading. You’ve made a judgement about her whole life and commitment as a mother based purely on a snapshot you witnessed.

Agréés op, I totally agree.

The amount of parents I see doom scrolling, their kid sat next to them, staring into space.

Utter madness

If this impacted you so much that you felt the need to come here at the end of the day and not only put your judgmental attitude in writing but expected others to chime in too, then why didn’t you just tell her off right then and there? You could have actually done something. What is the purpose of your post really?

Do they look stressed because they work too?

How do you know?
Was there a neon sign above her declaring that the child was indeed hers?

Are the Dads all great because they don't have carefully applied makeup?