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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To wonder if some people just pick at anything when you have little children?

35 replies

itsmymastercard · 07/08/2026 17:07

I went in a clothes shop today and it is one where dogs are allowed. My children found a dog and after checking with the owner knelt down to stroke it. While they were doing that a sales assistant came to me with a very anxious look on her face and told me not to let my children kneel on the wooden floor in case they got splinters. I just said ‘ok, well we’re on our way now anyway’ and she kept repeating herself about splinters and the floor. We’d have left by that point.

It just felt so silly and inconsequential as they really weren’t doing anything wrong but it made me feel all self conscious about my lax parenting. I only wanted to buy a top on sale!

OP posts:
Ellie1015 · 07/08/2026 17:28

Shop assistant sounds a bit ott. I would have said "I'm not worried, I can deal with any splinters"

Dont give it any more thought you and your dc did nothing wrong.

itsmymastercard · 07/08/2026 17:27

Daysgo · 07/08/2026 17:26

And if they'd got splinters you'd be threatening to take them to court ... Look after ur children.

Of course I wouldn’t and what sort of weird court tries shops for splinters Confused

I don’t think she had a learning difficulty but I appreciate you can’t always tell.

OP posts:
Daysgo · 07/08/2026 17:26

And if they'd got splinters you'd be threatening to take them to court ... Look after ur children.

youalright · 07/08/2026 17:26

Sounds like she has some kind of learning disability i wouldn't take it personal

Legomania · 07/08/2026 17:25

Some people are weird and have poor social skills

itsmymastercard · 07/08/2026 17:25

The significance of the dog is that is why they knelt on the floor, BTW.

OP posts:
itsmymastercard · 07/08/2026 17:24

@ContractorQuestion i guess it’s one of those where you had to be there but it wasn’t kind. It wasn’t ‘oh you might want to tell them to be careful’ it was more ‘remove them!’

@GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing it really annoyed me to be honest and I don’t normally sweat the small stuff.

OP posts:
GertrudePerkinsPaperyThing · 07/08/2026 17:22

Some people definitely just like to be telling mothers of small children what to do I think!

ContractorQuestion · 07/08/2026 17:21

You’re projecting something on to this incident that just wasn’t there based on what you’ve described!
All she did was warn you that the wooden floor might give your kneeling kids a splinter, she was trying to be kind. You’ve portrayed it as though she was complaining about your parenting while allowing a dog to roam the shop (what significance is the dog?).

Yearningallovertheplace · 07/08/2026 17:12

Sounds like a loon