Behaviour at school play yesterday

[user1485342611]

We had:

The woman who put her child standing on a chair for a better view, despite the fact they were up near the front, and then stood herself for the remainder of the performance.

The baby who was allowed cry and disrupt the performance several times before the mother took her out

The family who all clattered in late and settled themselves with much scraping of chairs.

The whiny toddler whose parents loudly accommodated him, 'do you want to sit on my lap' 'here's a biscuit' etc

The adults who chatted together when their child wasn't on stage

And the mother who answered two phone calls during the play.

Not to mention the parents holding their phones up in front of everyone to record the whole thing.

Are some adults incapable of showing a bit of cop on and consideration for half a bloody hour?

Ignore trifle it's typical from that poster.

Yanbu op the parents were rude and inconsiderate to everyone else. No wonder you get some entitled brats.

^Today 15:10 user1485342611

You do come across as quite self absorbed Fliptophead. The fact that your child just wants to see you and is not worried about whether his line can be heard, doesn't mean that all the children feel like that. Not to mention the parents who have taken time off work, and the grandparents who have driven several miles, to hear their child/grandchild sing or say their lines. They didn't go to all that trouble to listen to someone else's baby crying throughout the performance.^

No, I think demanding a mother who has also come to see their child and make their child feel safe leave so that you can better experience a child's play is a bit pathetic tbh.

Basically the grown ups can suck it up it's about the kids on the stage seeing their parents.

I refuse to allow my own DF and FIL to attend at the same time any play or show that DC are in. Apart they are fine but together they are guilty of talking through the parts that their grandchild is not in. So annoying and embarassing. I poke them all the time but now I have just banned them both.

YANBU - it is so frustrating that we are a society that are so impatient that we can't just live the moment and think of others around us.

It may be normal, but in my opinion it is also rude, selfish and entitled behaviour.

Exactly this. I'm so fed up of it all.

This is why I'm so glad our school do two performances, one with parents bringing younger siblings (so you're all in the same boat) and one without, it works.

The actual parents being entitled arseholes though, I haven't come across, luckily, because if someone actually stood in front of my chair, I'd have to say something

I got told off for being rude at the last Advil play. By the entitled twats who were mortally offended by my polite whispered request that they mute the YouTube videos they were using to entertain their toddler.

So not only do they think their dickishness is normal, they sincerely believe objecting is the unacceptable part.

School, not Advil, obvs

This is why I'm so glad our school do two performances, one with parents bringing younger siblings (so you're all in the same boat) and one without, it works.

Ours too. And it's professionally filmed (by a parent) and sold at cost so there's no need for filming.

Ours isn't professionally filmed, I wish it was, as I can never be arsed to hold my phone up the whole time, so just get snippets'.

So, @Fliptophead, you will just smile indulgently when someone else's toddler is standing on their chair, in front of you, screaming, so you cant see your child?

Or do you operate a fine set of double standards?

But why do we all just sit there quietly seething and not speak up? So easy to tap annoying parent with iPad blocking view on shoulder, and as previous poster said say firmly "please turn that off/lower it- you are blocking everyone else's view and enjoyment of the show".

I'd probably be too busy trying to watch the play to "smile indulgently" at a toddler that was acting up. It's annoying, but Jesus I'm a fucking grownup. I don't want that kid's mother to leave and have her 5 year old crying that her mother just walked out of her play.

Also I don't go around smiling indulgently at people or giving tinkly laughs. That only happens on MN.

dd's primary used to have 3 performances of the school play, two evenings for adult audiences only and a third held in the afternoon was for parents and siblings of the performers.

And...

All recording equipment was banned, the school did their own DVD which they sold to raise funds for the school.

YADNBU Op. While I find schools are much firmer about mobile and cameras, entitled behaviour by parents is so much worse than when I first started to go to school productions when ds (17) started school. I wouldn't have dreamed of taking a baby or a toddler to a play, dh and I would take turns to go. I would take younger siblings to school assemblies but if they got noisy or too wriggly, I'd take them out for a while. However we have a few persistent offenders who let their toddlers make so much noise at assemblies and plays you sometimes can't hear the children. It's so unfair on children who have worked hard to learn their lines.
My dd's school choir was invited to attend a performing arts gala at a local secondary school. One of the performances was a piece a group of year 13s had done for their A level Drama. It would be the last time they performed together. Some of the parents from our school chatted all the way through it. So fucking ignorant.

So some people, rather than disappoint their own child, will disappoint all the other children whose much rehearsed lines won't be heard over someone's baby crying. And then try to make out that the people who object, are the unkind ones

OK, @PrinceAli - how about you try answering the question instead of nitpicking my phraseology.

If you couldn't see or hear your child, due to a toddler standing on a chair in front of you, screaming, would you be OK with that? Would you accept that the price of the toddler's mum seeing their child perform was that you couldn't see or hear your child perform?

YANBU. What pisses me off even more than fucking rude parents is the staff that don't call them out even when they are sitting that close they are also affected. It shouldn't be down to us to tell an fellow parent to STFU but that's what I've had to do on a regular basis. And this is after the Head's introduction, where she always says the same thing - turn phones off, be quiet, film at the back etc etc, so it's not like these arses don't know they're being arses.

And I've also noticed that the times I've seen trifle comment on a thread she's deliberatley argumentative. Clearly she's not a troll or MN would have banned her by now. In future I'm going to ignore and not make any reference to her posts, maybe being 'contraversial' is what gets her through, but it gets on my nerves.

I don't remember this sort of behaviour from parents at school plays when I was a child (70s and 80s). Nobody would have stood a child on a chair at the front. What on earth are these people thinking??

We arent allowed to take photos or video any of the childrens performances due to safeguarding reasons. Anyone seen with a mobile phone out is asked to leave due to what I presume is a child/children at risk in the school. I presonally think its an eminently sensible solution to watching life through a 6x8 screen vs actually watching and experiencing the event!

I did answer the question. I said it's annoying but fuck it that's life. It's not the same as an adult being an asshole or a parent bringing a child to an actual play that wasn't meant for kids. Sorry I really don't see the issue. People are so bloody anti small child in this country, it's the reason so many women feel trapped in their homes after having children. And yes, dad could take the baby but actually ime dad doesn't tend to have the baby. Single parents tend to be mothers and then they get to go to a play and not see their child and then console a crying kid because an adult couldn't get over themselves.

And then try to make out that the people who object, are the unkind ones

Ha this is MN where no matter how horrid someone is to you or how rude and entitled unless you have them over for dinner, send supportive notes to them tucked into the collar of their cat, who incidently is never the one shitting in your garden, offer to babysit and give them a cream egg it will always be you who is rude

Unfortunately, some people don't think it is reasonable if they are asked not to film, for safeguarding reasons - even when it is explained that there may be a child on stage whose location must be kept secret, from an abusive or dangerous parent. Their 'right' to film the play and post all sorts online outweighs a child's safety.

holdbacktheeain teachers aren't doorstaff. They aren't trained to take on shitty parents who don't follow he rules after giving their time to run some school play. They have to deal with the parents daily. If you have a problem be a grown up and say so.