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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

AIBU to think that this lady has lost her mind ...

300 replies

kavvLar · 17/07/2016 19:09

South Kiosk at Martello Park Felixstowe out this status up on Facebook earlier today:

"Can we make ourselves perfectly clear to all parents who are too scared to disipline their children about tantrum screaming. We will give you five lenient minutes to ask the child to stop screaming and then we will ask the child ourselves. If that means you too having a tantrum about our having to speak to your child and hurling threats about not returning – that's really okay with us. We have a duty of care to the rest of our customers."

Cue hundreds of people flaming them on Facebook and 1* reviewing the business.

What on earth were they thinking?

OP posts:
BillSykesDog · 19/07/2016 06:22

What do you want them to do Suffolk? Just report website gossip, give her no right of reply and perhaps throw in a little public flogging? Would you be happy then?

JudyCoolibar · 19/07/2016 09:33

I suspect Suffolk would like them to report both sides of the story, not just the owner's side.

sorenofthejnaii · 19/07/2016 09:50

Love the adverb

""Writing on her business’s Facebook page after gently admonishing a child at her kiosk in Felixstowe, Suffolk, she said: ‘Can we make ourselves perfectly clear to all parents who are too scared to discipline their children about tantrum screaming?

‘We will give you five lenient minutes to ask the child to stop screaming and then we will ask the child ourselves.

‘If that means you too having a tantrum about our having to speak to your child and hurling threats about not returning – that’s really okay with us. We have a duty of care to the rest of our customers""

lovemyretsis · 19/07/2016 11:22

Ah, the Brexit loving, foreigner hating Daily mail readership is taking a short respite from slagging off immigrants instead focusing on demonising 'modern mothers' and their 'naughty' children. lol

Wordsaremything · 19/07/2016 11:42

What's wrong with taking a child by the wrist and telling it to stop screaming? I genuinely just don't get it.

NeedACleverNN · 19/07/2016 11:48

Because it wasn't her child. It was a complete stranger

honkinghaddock · 19/07/2016 11:52

With ds it wouldn't work, you would be scratched and bitten and he would get even more distressed.

Wordsaremything · 19/07/2016 12:41

I can understand the concern if the kid is disabled, but what is wrong with a stranger admonishing a child? Whatever happened to 'it takes a village?...'

JudyCoolibar · 19/07/2016 12:46

There are a number of things wrong with it.

  1. It's not her child.
  2. Since when did a stranger admonishing a two year old in a tantrum ever work?
  3. She didn't just admonish the child, she grabbed them by the wrist and apparently got right in their face. Technically that's assault.
  4. She doesn't have any jurisdiction about what happens in the open space around the kiosk.
  5. She plainly didn't stop to think about the possibility that the child could be disabled.
BillSykesDog · 19/07/2016 13:10

All that's happened here is two women have had a bit of a disagreement which would have all blown over had it not ended up on the internet, one or both has been rude and may not be the most pleasant person in the world.

The online lynching which has followed has been entirely disproportionate and would seem more appropriate if she had ritually sacrificed a child on the cornetto fridge.

I don't believe for a second that the majority of people climbing on this bandwagon are motivated by concern for disabled children. More like they're getting a sadistic thrill out of destroying someone whilst also being able to claim they have the moral high ground. It's pretty much the same sort of motivation which led to needles clacking around guillotines or scarlet 'A's being branded on women's forehead's or 'witches' being denounced and murdered.

Don't give me this concerned citizen bullshit, it's nothing better than a public lynching for amusement purposes.

Allaboutcake · 19/07/2016 16:21

I actually think that what has happened here is that a miserable woman has sought to extend her control issues to someone else's child. Then on a moment of utter stupidity, boasted about her power on Facebook. To all the customers she invited to leave her. She lost all her customers. Arrogance and stupidity are not a good combo when the people you alienate are vital to your trade.

cathf · 19/07/2016 16:40

Hysterical parenting again. The truth is no-one knows what happened apart from the lady herself, the toddler and - perhaps - the toddlers parents and/or any witnesses who were there on the day
To state with such conviction that the woman grabbed the child by the wrist when you were not there is daft. It maybe the version of the story you want to believe, but it doesn't necessarily make it the correct version. The same applies to the people who believe the DM version that the child was gently admonished.
Embarrassment does not seem to be an emotion much talked about nowadays. If that was my child - regardless of who did what- I would be mortified that my child was causing such a disturbance to other people that someone felt they had to step in.

Allaboutcake · 19/07/2016 18:43

It's immaterial now. She's never going to live this down - it doesn't matter how good her sausage rolls are (or if they really are worth dying for - that air ambulance stunt is very well documented). The woman has crashed and burned her own business - there has been no input at all from the mother of the 2 year old.

Bearsinmotion · 19/07/2016 21:51

Apparently not Allaboutcake, she seems to have made a bit of a comeback:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-36837803

Allaboutcake · 19/07/2016 23:20

It will be interesting to see how this goes. She's keen to fight back, that's for sure. If you say you are supported by the community and have the flowers to show for it, it must be true, right?

Wordsaremything · 20/07/2016 00:41

Holding a child by the wrist and telling it off is not 'technically assault.' Let's be clear .

mathanxiety · 20/07/2016 01:32

BillSykes, I think the lesson to be learned here is 'you live by the internet, you die by the internet'. If she had kept schtum, this would all have b;own over.

mathanxiety · 20/07/2016 01:38

*blown

LucyBabs · 20/07/2016 02:02

words you usually grab people by the wrists and tell them to calm down do you?

JudyCoolibar · 20/07/2016 02:08

Holding a child by the wrist and telling it off is not 'technically assault.' Let's be clear

It certainly is. Any sort of touching without consent is capable of being assault - aggravating factors will be the degree of strength used and the fact that the other person can't resist, notably if they're a child.

LilQueenie · 20/07/2016 02:26

it gets worse. Have a a look at playpennies fb page. Shes known to police and has hurled abuse at children living locally. Shock

planeymcplaneface · 20/07/2016 03:29

lilqueenie i saw it on fb earlier but didnt read it :/

BillSykesDog · 20/07/2016 03:41

it gets worse. Have a a look at playpennies fb page. Shes known to police and has hurled abuse at children living locally

And this is in any way true or reliable because....? I heard that she was seen down at the pond looking at Farmer Turners cows and the next day their milk had turned sour. I put it on the interwebz so now it's true.

LilQueenie · 20/07/2016 03:44

does it make it untrue? Does anything written on the internet have any truth? I only mentioned.

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