To not want to be the minority where I live?

[Charlottehines]

It really saddens me that in parks and soft plays with my children, that I am in the minority and my children can't play with other children there as they all play together and obviously can't speak English.
I'm in no way racist, my husband is of mixed origin but I do find it incredibly sad that my children are growing up the minority especially when these other groups make no effort to integrate with other mums or the children.
Am I completely unreasonable to feel sad about this?

Sorry OP you are talking rubbish. I live in the same area as you and what you are saying is nonsense!

It appears we are on the same wavelength MrsD.

It always strikes me as odd that those white british who want to get away from it all and grab a bit of sun want to go and live next door to one another - Costa del Crime, Languedoc, Brittany, the Algarve...

Not at all MrsD.

Do you think I'm racist for marrying within mine?

Thankfully children tend to be more accepting of others than some parents.
What a depressing attitude from the OP.

The sarcasm isn't needed, I'm only saying how I feel.
Clearly the majority feel I'm wrong for feeling like this.
I do find lots of mothers not willing to address their children's behaviour.
I am a stay at home parent with 2 children not yet at school so I'm out most days seeing things that go on.
Im not saying its never mine in the wrong believe me!
Just the way I deal with it is different and in my experience the children with polish or eastern European mothers seem to let their children be aggressive with no consequence.
This is just what I've encountered I'm afraid.

What's a regular door number?

so the polish and other Eastern Europeans hate you for being white even though most of them are also white?

I have read the thread am just a bit slow

I found it was a problem in some areas and not others. I lived in areas of London that were predominantly Afro.-Caribbean (no problem except one caribbean takeaway who didn't really like to serve white people and would always say they had 'run out' of what you wanted then serve it to the next [black] person) and a predominantly Indian area where there was absolutely no proplem at all.

But I did live in an area in East London (predominantly Bangladeshi Muslim) which has sometimes been covered in the press as having problems and there were problems there. I was told fairly regularly by young men I should 'get out of their area' and had to be careful what I wore. If I said hello to my neighbours they would just totally blank me and wouldn't even accept an offer to help them with their pram up the stairs or help them with their shopping. I experienced racism at a doctors surgery and had to change. We felt we were also treated unfavourably when it came to certain publicly funded services when it came to race. It was very sad but we did feel we had to move away because we felt isolated and unwelcome.

Never experienced anything like that before or since but I know sometimes it can happen as you describe OP, and sadly I think the only solution is to move away sometimes.

Not when the UKIP wing of the WI is on a mission.

That made me lol.

I live in a super-diverse area, where English-speakers are possibly in the minority at the playground depending on which way the wind is blowing. But children don't notice, surely? They start digging together and just get lost in their own world.

Regardless of statistics it's happening

No it is not,you just want to believe it is because you are racist and unpleasant

HTH

polish or eastern European mothers seem to let their children be aggressive with no consequence - utter rubbish and a huge generalisation. My DSIL is Polish, and my DNs are a delight in every way.

Well I think you'll find MrsD that as there is an overwhelming amount of people living within their own communities, not just in the country but globally that it is, actually, human nature.

No offence meant to the lovely people who live in the Borough of Sutton, but the bit near the centre is a bit of a pee hole and most people swerve it. Am surprised the OP has never noticed it before because it's always been like that.

In a suburb of Rome last Easter my non Italian speaking son played football for hours with a group of non-English speaking children in their school playground. Language was not essential - there were a lot of smiles and a lot of fun! It was a joy to watch!

Op, I pity you for you are scared of stereotypes, and last time I checked steretopypes were not real and had no power to hurt you. How you think it about it, can harm you much more.

"It seems to be the polish / eastern Europeans that have this attitude about not caring if their kids hurt others."

Blimey OP. Having Polish neighbours should be the least of your worries. I have yet to meet an unfriendly Pole. You would hate my neighbourhood. I am Norwegian and my husband is Polish. Our neighbours are Pakistani Muslims, Russian Jews, German, English, Irish Catholics, American Chinese, Japanese & English, all in a small cul de sac. Even my elderly English neighbours loves it, and chats happily to all of us.

You have lived there 8 years and complain it has changed. My neighbours have lived here since the end of the second world war, and they have seen it change, from an all English neighbourhood to a melting pot of religions and cultures and nationalities, and aged 90 and 82 seem to be much more tolerant and multinational than you.