To ban my children from speaking while I am driving?

[CruCru]

I am a reasonably good (if cautious) driver. However, I find it really distracting when my children go "Mummy! Mummy! Mummy!" for non urgent things when I am driving.

I'm sure that when I was little, I wasn't allowed to talk when my mother was driving. WIBU to bring in the same rule?

You could try ..
Might not take a blind bit of notice tho

I have rules in my car for this reason. I say to dc 'mummy needs 5 minutes' to park/reverse whatever and they have to be quiet. Includes tapping or singing. I see it as a safeguard - I can't concentrate therefore it's not safe for them. When I'm finished I say 'thank you for being so quiet you can talk now'

if they don't take any notice then you have a serious problem with the behaviour of your children.

Why would they not do as they are told?

sensible rule, go for it.

we had this rule too, as children

Well, at the moment, if they talk during a tricky bit then I say "No, Mummy is driving, you need to be quiet now" and then say "What was that?" when I'm past the difficult junction.

If you're so cautious that you can't handle children talking at all in the car, then you might benefit from driving lessons to boost your confidence

Asking children to be quiet at difficult junctions so you can concentrate is sensible

Can you plug them into earphones...?

I agree with with @youhavetobekidding a driving lesson would be a good idea. It doesn't sound like you're very safe if you can't handle people talking in the car.

It doesn't sound like you're very safe if you can't handle people talking in the car.

i disagree with this. Many perfectly competent readers can't concentrate to read if people are chatting around them, this is no different

Mine aren't allowed to talk to me whilst I'm reversing.

I have a son who talks at me non stop. On some journeys I tell him that he can only talk when I have stopped at red lights

When we got a new car I told my kids there was a problem with the sound and I couldn't hear them at all.....
My mother used to claim she had closed her ears...

If you can't drive safely with a child talking, you can't drive safely. And shouldn't be doing so.

I'm a confident driver but I often ask DSD to stop talking (politely) when I'm trying to navigate a tricky junction; somehow it's different to adult talk and can be repetitive when the same question or my name keeps getting repeated

Same as Thismorning, I ask them to be quiet when I'm reversing or doing a manoeuvre in a tight space. I don't find it distracting the rest of the time. Not sure you can expect them not to talk at all on long journeys.

I tell DD (3.5) in advance of tricky bits, where possible. I.e joining a motorway - 'quiet for a min while I get onto this road love', and it works okay most of the time. Sometimes I have to yell at her to shut up, but mostly not. Go for it! Your kids doing the urgent 'mummy' thing is v distracting, more so than an adult passenger, as you're attuned to possible puke/seatbelt being undone/window being opened kind of 'mummy' chat! Ignore the po-faced 'get lessons' posters, they probably have perfect children.

YANBU. I find it distracting too, obvs not talking in general, chatting on straightforward roads is fine; but the 'Mummy, Mummy, MUMMY!' is hard when you are negotiating a tricky roundabout or reversing.

I don't think it's necessarily a reason to need lessons! I've only been driving a year, so this could be my relative lack of experience but I was always fine chatting away to my instructor and chatted lots to my examiner when I passed my test. Grown-ups understand if you pause for a few seconds and then resume the conversation, DC repeat the same thing but louder IME.

Mine have to be quiet for busy junctions and roundabouts. It's just extra unnecessary noise and tale-telling.

Sorry, I should have said - I'm fine with normal adult conversation in the car, it's just the Mummy, Mummy!, MUMMY! that I hate.