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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To want to shout at this bloody child..

437 replies

Wilberforce2 · 24/06/2014 21:20

Not sure if I'm being a bit precious but this is driving me mental.

Every Tuesday my ds does rugby 4-5 and as they are only reception and year 1 all of the parents stay. I like staying and enjoy watching him but one of the little girls of another parent is doing my head in. I have a 4 month old dd and every week this little girl does not leave her alone, constantly plays with the hood on the pram (pushing it backwards and forwards), putting her fingers in the babies mouth, kissing her on the lips, takes her toys/muslin off of her, pokes her eyes it just goes on and on. Last week this girl had a heavy cold and was constantly wiping snot around her face then walked over to dd in her pram (I dared to take my eyes off of her for a second) and stuck her fingers in her mouth, Friday my dd gets an awful cold. The mum just laughs and says "oh she is so motherly" or "she just loves babies" but I want her to tell her to leave her alone for one fricking second. Today I told the girl no a few times and had a couple of looks from the mum who then said "oh *** come over here darling I don't think you are wanted" but I can't just watch her prod and poke her for an hour, she was trying to put a pine cone in her mouth then whipped her with a muslin!

Am I being precious or would you keep telling the girl no? Little girl is 2 years old. Older brother is in my ds's class so I don't want to cause an argument.

OP posts:
VampyreofTimeandMemory · 25/06/2014 18:29

delphin why is everyone suddenly incapable of reading properly? why deliberately misinterpret things? WHO has said this little girl should be left to get on with. OP has let her, so far. Hasn't it been more along the lines of 'you're directing your anger at the wrong person, talk to her mother'? fgs...

Delphiniumsblue · 25/06/2014 18:34

It is very simple- she firmly tells the child in simple language not to do it, or she asks the mother. Since the mother hasn't stopped her I would tell the child. There is no need to be rude or shout- just politely and clearly make sure that she knows she is to look and not touch.

Marylou62 · 25/06/2014 18:37

I have read all of the above and there is some good advice....But please spare a thought to the mothers of snotty nosed children. My DS had constant lime green candles for 4 years. Dr said he had enlarged polyps. I wiped it often but he Hated it as his nose was very sore and I had to chase him. (Years before wonderful wet wipes!) I used to wait till there was enough if I was going to put him through the struggle and soreness. He out grew it about 5 years old.

Nomama · 25/06/2014 18:40

You can be as rude and forthright and blunt as you like to other people's children.

if this is how your mind works, then something is fucking wrong, sorry.

Erm, I didn't say that.... or anything like that. Anywhere!

So now we know, we are both misreferencing each other, apparently!

Marylou62 · 25/06/2014 18:41

I forgot to say...he was immaculately turned out in every other respect...Just lime green candles which even I found yucky!

Nomama · 25/06/2014 18:42

And I didn't say you had poured vitriol at the OP... I said the only 'cuntish behaviour' was from those who had...

You are choosing to wear a cap that does not fit, Vampyre

KatieKaye · 25/06/2014 18:43

In this instance the child is annoying and curious. The two are not mutually exclusive. Plus she pinched the poor baby!

It appears that her mother subscribes to the "she's only curious" school of thought too and is impervious to the fact that her child is annoying OP.

VampyreofTimeandMemory · 25/06/2014 18:45

well, I assumed you meant me.

Nomama · 25/06/2014 18:50

Ass U me?

Easy done, Vampyre. Especially when you have a really opposite view from someone else.

I try to put names when I mean an individual. So if we ever when we argue again you'll know if I mean you Smile

TheXxed · 25/06/2014 18:55

This thread has taken a strange turn.

VampyreofTimeandMemory · 25/06/2014 18:56

excellent :)

mathanxiety · 25/06/2014 18:59

It was me who said that, and I'll say it again.
You absolutely can be as forthright and rude and blunt as you like with other people's children.

How else are they to learn?

Are you just going to fume impotently and expect them to understand what you want from them, behaviour-wise? They are not mind-readers. They often need direct instruction. In the case of two year olds, the more direct the better. With two year olds, you teach them how to treat you or your baby or your possessions or depending on personality and how much work their parents have put in, they will do things that you are going to fret about - break things, dirty things, spread germs, hurt a baby unwittingly, etc. If you don't want these things happening, then speak up, and don't hint or be indirect. You are not going to hurt their feelings by being blunt or fortright or saying something directly like a firm 'No, no, no - you can't touch', that might come across as rude to an adult.

It's not nasty to tell a two year old exactly where she is going wrong and exactly what behaviour you expect from her. If her mother hasn't bothered, and your baby stands to pick up a cold or gastro enteritis or whatever else the two year old may have lurking on her fingers, them rude, forthright and blunt are exactly what is required.

I don't understand how you think that is nasty. I haven't either stated or implied that two year olds are horrible in any way. I have implied that two year olds are in need of direct instruction, and I am right. They do not come equipped with innate knowledge of how to treat a baby or a baby's toys, or how colds are spread.

The handwringing over how polite you have to be to a two year old is teddibly British, and incredibly silly.

There is no point letting a two year old do what comes naturally because you are too timid to intervene, and then getting so furious about the predictable result of letting her have free rein that you feel like shouting at her.

Nomama · 25/06/2014 18:59

Why is that TheXxed? Have we been sensible and avoided a hissy fit? Smile

Nomama · 25/06/2014 19:00

Oh! Mathanxiety, thank you! Another lovely turn of phrase/typo that just works...Smile

Can we be teddibly British again please?

TheXxed · 25/06/2014 19:01

Precisely Nomama

mathanxiety · 25/06/2014 19:04

That is ultimately not fair to the two year old.

Delphiniumsblue · 25/06/2014 20:40

I agree mathanxiety. It takes a village.............and we would all be better off if people all waded in when necessary.

TheCatsBollocks · 25/06/2014 20:58

Good post and points Math.

GatoradeMeBitch · 25/06/2014 21:17

From what the OP describes she doesn't seem like a little girl who loves babies - pinching the baby so hard she cries, shoving snotty fingers in her mouth, trying to put a pine cone in her mouth, trying to whip her with a muslin cloth? Forget about the mother's description and listen to what the OP is saying!

Just tell the woman her child is too rough, and she cannot 'play' with the baby anymore. If she comes over, ask the woman to collect her. If she gets snotty with you, point out that it was her child who gave your baby a cold.

VampyreofTimeandMemory · 25/06/2014 21:22

what a monster that child is Hmm

don't you think she might just be a bit young to understand exactly what she should and shouldn't do?

GatoradeMeBitch · 25/06/2014 21:29

And that's why she needs to be sent back to her Mum.

InSpaceNooneCanHearYouScream · 25/06/2014 21:35

Vampyre are you one of those mothers who lets their 2 year old pinch babies 'because they're too young to know better?' That's how you're coming across.
Agree totally math.

sharonthewaspandthewineywall · 25/06/2014 21:41

There's always one isn't there. Or two in this case...

usualsuspectt · 25/06/2014 21:45

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TheXxed · 25/06/2014 21:45

The OP created this situation by allowing a 2 year old to grab at her baby. I wouldn't let this situation occur because I would have spoken to the mother immediately.