to not want threads assuming the age of my child?

[MardyBra]

What does your three year old girl wear?

How many teeth does your 9.34 month old baby have?

Is your 2.891 year old potty trained?

I don't have children of those precise ages.

Right, I need to go out an pick up some children of undefined ages.

The ones that annoy me are the half finished thread titles, eg

Can anyone tell me.....

"What does your three year old girl wear?"

Read it. When you realise you don't have a 3 year old you think "That's not to me then." and move on to the next one.

Just like when I see a "drunk thread" I don't get all uppity and assume someone is accusing me of being drunk. Or when someone asks for advice on their piles, I don't start a thread complaining that I have been accused of having piles.

YABU.

I asked my friend how old her DS is.

'twenty five months' she replied

'also known as two DF?'

FFS! Wtf s the matter with people?

And YAB a Mardy Bum MardyBra. ^just like I am

You know that Titanic film, Mardy

[SPOILER WARNING]

It sinks, it does.

"Just like when I see a "drunk thread" I don't get all uppity and assume someone is accusing me of being drunk."

But it doesn't tell you that you're drunk. Just that it is a thread for people who are drunk.

""What does your three year old girl wear?" is telling you you have a 3 year old daughter.

Do people not see the distinction?

MmeL I remember going to see Titanic when it first came out. It was going on for so long, I started to wonder whether it would sink at all.

This is a pendantry question, people - why don't you understand?

(can you believe that NOTHING good comes up in a Google Images search for "pendant for pedants"?)

Nope. Sorry. Still don't get it. :o

Yabu!

People are after advice for a specific age of child which is fair enough. Eg: a 7yo in year 2 is different from a 7yo in year 3. I think it's all relevant and easier to reply if posters give detail.

Idespair Can I borrow your user name?

At least Trills and MmeL get it.

I'm with Trills - it's quite clear to all non-pedants what is being asked, so that is fine as a thread title for me, unlike the

Does everybody......
Is it normal to.....

type ones.

YADNBU

Tsk Mardy you are being disingenuous. I bet you have loads of opinions about these things even if you don't have any relevant experience

It's Mumsnet. We're all busy judging about things we have no idea about.

Just use your imaginary baby and fake it.

www.pinterest.com/tiffanywbwg/my-imaginary-well-dressed-toddler-daughter/

YABU, it's just a turn of phrase.

Do you get annoyed at adverts which do this as well? Loads of them do it.

"Is YOUR toilet minging and brown? You need Cillit Bang 64000!"

Total assumption that I have a toilet of my own, and if I do, that I take personal responsibility for cleaning it! What's wrong with a hole in the ground, I ask you [grumble]

It's not assuming that everybody has a 5 year old, it's just aimed at people who do. A thread title like "If you have a 5 year old can you please tell me if they can tie their own shoes?" is much longer and more cumbersome than "Can your 5yo tie their shoes?" and also more specific than "Can a 5yo tie their shoes?" as that's a bit metaphysical and abstract and posters could conceivably answer "Well some can and some can't." "How long is a piece of string?" "What about 5yos with no arms" etc whereas inviting posters to talk about their own five year old is asking a tangible question which would bring a range of responses from "Mine can't yet, but he's dyspraxic" to "Mine could at 5mo, he's so amazingly talented!" alongside the general "Yes, mine can" "No, mine can't" and perhaps also some helpful ones like "Mine couldn't at 5 but he could at 6." or something.

WTF is with that Pinterest?

Even worse are the people who refer to their child as 64 weeks........or 32 months........etc. FFS.

I see your point Mardy, but it's better than the alternative which would be a title of "If you have a 3 yo, does she ...."
I'd have to open that to see what it says.

If I already know it's about number of teeth in a 3 yo, I just think Can't Remember, Not Important, and carry on.

I love that Pinterest. But only in short bursts. Not quite sure it stretches to a whole book mind.

YANBU about the turn of phrase.

As for being more specific about age - I think it matters at 3 still. DD is nearly a year younger than her cousin, so they were both 3 for a while, but it is reasonable to have different expectations of a just 3 and a nearly 4 yo.

It also matters in RL for me as DD looks about a year older than she is and people expect more of her as a result. For example, a stranger told her she was a big girl and shouldn't need to be carried. It was on her second birthday, she was knackered and it was a short distance. The stranger thought she was 3.

But at 3, I wouldn't describe DD as 3.4 or 40 months - I'd probably split it between "just 3", "3.5" (short for 3 1/2) or "nearly 4" if I felt that it made a difference, or "3" where it didn't matter .

It is also a bit similar when people talk about summer born reception children - they aren't being precious - it does make a difference.

It always seems odd to me when you get 'what present does your 5 yr old like? I have even seen 'what do you get a 60 yr old?'! I really haven't a clue-what interests do they have and why on earth should they be the same as someone else's 5 yr old or 60 yr old?

I always read it as a gentle 'I actually want advice from people with experience' kind of phrase. If someone says 'What would be a nice present for DC age 2,' I might reply if I'd seen something cute. If someone says 'what is your DC age 2's favourite ever present?' I assume they don't want childless randomer saying 'ooh, well the complete works of Shakespeare and the hand-crafted organic wooden toy set looked excellent to me'.