To be quite shocked at how some people speak to their kids?

[IndiaGrace]

Today I went to the shops. DD was in nursery so it was a very rare child free outing.

Shopping centre is located in nearest city, in what is quite a rough area but it obviously attracts shoppers from miles around.

I lost count of the number of (presumably) parents I heard speaking in really nasty ways to their kids. I'm not talking losing the rag and telling them off. I mean one woman hissing "shut up and leave me alone" to a wee girl in a trolley who must have been about 3 or 4. Another one saying to her small son "you're so annoying just stop talking" - a few examples of this. "Stop asking me for Stuff, you're doing my nut in" etc.

Now I understand that tempers get frayed. It was busy, people are fraught. Sometimes when my DD (who is two and tries my patience plenty) is yammering away when I'm trying to concentrate, I resist the urge to tell her "shhh" and if there are times I do need to tell her to be quiet, I will gently say "shh, you need to be quiet now" but it would never occur to me to nastily tell her to shut up or to leave me alone etc.

I suffer from very low self esteem, have done all my life, and I'm determined my DD will not grow up to feel the same way. This might be colouring my view as to why I feel so strongly. Is it as big a deal as I think it is? Or am I being over sensitive about it?

This is something I have noticed a lot since DD came along. It really gets my back up. I wouldn't say anything though. Generally they don't tend to look like the kind of people to respond well to that kind of confrontation.

What all the Smuggy McSmugFaces on this thread don't seem to be picking up on is that I don't think anybody is saying it's fine to talk to children that way, they're mostly saying we're all human and we make mistakes. In an ideal world none of us would speak to each other this way, but it isn't an ideal world. I hate it when I lose my tag with my kids but it happens from time to time.

People have different temperaments, there are some calm people who never lose their temper, and I don't think they have the foggiest idea what it's like to be short of fuse. I have EUPD which means I feel everything more intensely than most people, it's not so much that I have a short fuse, more like I don't have a fuse at all. But I'm seeking help to deal with this. But it doesn't help when I read people who appear to be completely lacking in empathy judging me.

Hmm. There are sooo many ways ppl wil see this !

I just heard a woman today say to her son of about 8 Y.O "bitch slap her that will stop it" to which the son replied "fuck yeah", then mum, dad and son laughed. What the hell is wrong with people?!

FWIW, even though I occasionally snap at my children they tell me every day that they love me and that I'm 'the bestest mummy in the whole wide world'.