MIL wants to sell my baby

[TheExtraPickle]

Apologies for clickbaity title. But now I have your attention...

I'm a paramedic. Several times in the last couple of months I have heard a parent say to their child some variation of "Behave or that ambulance lady will be cross/tell you off/take you away".

Don't. Do. That.

Don't make your child afraid of us.

Don't make them so afraid that when I try to examine their broken arm they scream and squirm and do more damage.

Don't make them afraid to call 999 and ask for help.

Don't make them afraid to approach us if they are lost in public.

Don't make them too afraid to open the front door when you've fallen down the stairs and are unconscious.

I've also heard "the police will come and arrest you if you don't stop". Also not a good message.

Teach your children that the emergency services are here to help and are friendly and trustworthy. You never know when you might need us. Don't use me to discipline or calm your child because the first thing I will do is turn around with a big smile and tell that child it isn't the case.

This has been a public service announcement from TheExtraPickle. (Who's MIL is lovely and in no way involved in child trading)

[Coldilox]

My mum always used to threaten to go to school and tell my teacher if I was misbehaving. What did she think they would do?!

Am a police officer, not uniform anymore but when I was I hated when parents would say to their kids, even as a joke, "they're here to take you away."

I would always make a point of interacting with kids/waving from my van etc to make sure kids saw us as approachable, and encourage my own toddler to wave at police/paramedics/firefighters etc. He likes nee naws!

[AnnieAnoniMouse]

SGB that may be true, but not small children.


I've heard plenty of 'the teacher/nurse/policeman will 'tell you off' but never a paramedic! and this "If you don't do/stop doing that the nurse will come and stick a big needle in you"! Holy crap! Epic parenting fail!

[x2boys]

Yep totally agree I use the bus regularly I've heard mothers say if you don't behave that lady will shout/smack wtf of course I wouldn't discipline a complete strangers child

[thatwouldbeanecumenicalmatter]

My Great Nana did similar to my Nana, that some local woman called Mrs Jones* (obvs not real name) would take her away if she was naughty. One day my Nana was on an errand for my GN and was heading out of a shop when said Mrs Jones walked in, my poor Nana froze on the spot and wet herself with fright. So cruel.

[x2boys]

@MaryZ two of my friends are adopted sister's (Not biological ) their mum used to tell them she as sending them back to the children's home if they misbehaved they are both in their forties now.

[WaxOnFeckOff]

On an opposite note, my ex neighbours son was (is) a wild one. There were (and still are) regular police visits. Once when he was about 7 or 8 he was destroying the house (kicking in doors and chucking drawers and stuff down the stairs) and his grandmother called the police out. When they arrived she shouted up the hall in her perfect cut glass voice "Oh Harry dear, the police are here to see you" and he replied, "Well tell them to fuck off!"

I'm not commenting at all on the fact that they used the police as a their personal discipline service...

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

I was guilty of phoning up Action Man's Mum and Dr Who's Mum to ask what they were having for dinner.

"Fishfingers you say. Oh nice.....DS , Dr Who is having fishfingers for dinner. So can you"
shameless !

[IncyWincyGrownUp]

Mothra I am beyond amused at your supermarket juggling. Well played!

[Mazzystarlett]

We make a big deal out of how great nurses/doctors/emergency services. When our little one came to live with us he was afraid of all of them because the foster carer used to say they would take him away (?!) but we're slowly getting there.

In the meantime...

[just5morepeas]

I used to be a barmaid and I've had more than one parent threaten their kids with me - saying that I'd tell them off if they don't behave.

Er, no I won't, parent your own damn kid!

[elfycat]

I've always told my children that police help people, and if they are lost the ONLY person they're allowed to go off with is police officers, in uniform, in a marked police car. (apologies to any SW who may be involved in the lost child/suddenly ill parent scenario but I want a simple rule that DDs can insist on).

Mind you I've taught my children to respect every job. One day they went past the bin lorry and DD1 cheerfully piped up that without them our town would be a horrible place to be. They are nice bin-folk but it might not be co-incidence that if I forget to put the bin right to the front it get emptied anyway.

Re MIL: it seems to me that she only wants to pawn the kids, not sell them. Think of it as daycare.

[stopfuckingshoutingatme]

Who are these fools! Honestly
I bekeive you and am depressed by how crap humans can be

[OurMiracle1106]

I was taught it was police you went to if you were lost cos they would make sure you came safely home.
Ambulances were for Emergency's and you kept out of their way, doctors and nurses want to make you better.
To take the medicine because it will taste nasty but make you better normally bribed with a sweet after

I plan to teach my child the same things.
A healthy respect for those doing their job, to keep out of the way of sirens. Not to start crossing the road if you see/hear a siren even if the light is green and to step back from the road (they can always clip the curb and they are trying to save a life and don't want to harm you).

Also OP thank you for the viral, never ending,emotional and often thankless job you do under less than ideal circumstance.

[QuizteamBleakley]

Will there be a Buy It Now price? Just that I'm a bit broody but CBA to do the whole pregnancy thing again.

[mishfish]

I taught my son to respect and trust our public service workers...

If I wanted him at aged 5 to put a smart jumper on, I'd tell him that "Dr xxx who froze your verruca has the exact same one"

[Mummyoflittledragon]

I don't think there's a baby involved Quiz. I just think op put that to grab our attention . Very cruel to make us think there was one. Typical of these scary ambulance crew types .

I clicked on here thinking it was a troll and seeing it's a lovely human.

[HerRoyalChocolateBunny]

re the story about kids legging it when the police came to school...

My dad used to be a head teacher at a school (not in the UK) in a pretty 'bad' area. He tells the story that one day they were having lessons and one of the questions was what the kids knew about the police, firemen, paremedics etc.

One kid (aged about 10) wrote that 'Police are bastards'.

So, the teachers though;'Hmmm'and invited their local police / community officer to come and give a talk to the school about what the police do, how they are there to help etc.

Next day they asked the kids again to write what they had learned.

The same kid wrote 'Police are cunning bastards'.

[EsmeGNU]

I have the upmost respect for all the emergency services, in fact for anyone who has to deal with the public, who can be dreadful. I hope to be the kind of parent who teaches their kids to respect everyone.

How do we feel about telling them that when the ice cream van play a tune the ice cream is gone.............?

[TheFirstMrsDV]

Can I add a couple of sort of related ones?
Please don't tell foster carers how wonderful they are and how you could never do what they do whilst their children are STANDING RIGHT BY THEM.
Those kids don't need to be told that someone has to be amazing to put up with them.
Similarly if you discover a child is a fostered child please do NOT say 'Oh I'll have him! Give him to me' Like the child is a toy that can be handed over to anyone on a whim.

Thank you.

[SeaEagleFeather]

kinda shocked at how many people are saying they've heard this. How horrible.

If it's any help, and this isn't meant to be a stealth boast, we had a fire recently that could have been very nasty, it was certainly an urgent emergency-services job.

Our oldest son and I took the firemen and women a thank you card and a crate of beer a couple of days later

Some of us appreciate what you emergency-service guys do a lot; we still have our house and so do the neighbours.

[3catsandcounting]

I work in a primary school, and we very much endorse our public services.

We have PSHE projects that include "people who help us?" and discuss who we can and can't trust, if we got lost and had to ask for help. The local village bobby comes in regularly for a chat with the little ones, or to talk about internet safety with the older ones.

I'm pretty sure most schools have at least part of this on their curriculum.

[TheFirstMrsDV]

My OH was a paramedic for many years.
I was pleased to see all the positive tweets during an episode of Ambulance recently.
When he was on the job paras were left of the list of emergency service heros and were treated like dirt.
Panorama even did a hatchet job on them.

[SweetLuck]

You don't have a MiL problem you have a DH problem. Where is he in all this?

[Canyoudomegreaterharm]

I have come across the crap parenting of telling a child that the police/teacher/other authority figure will tell them off but I have never heard anything as outrageous as telling a child they don't need to use please or thank you to someone due to where they are working!!!!

I am gobsmacked that people actually think like that, it's terrible.

to anyone dealing with the public, retail or emergency services.

[GoodEnough1]

Try to find out if the price of babies is going down or up, she could buy back at a profit ... then again there is a risk she might not be able to afford to buy back if the market goes up. Excellent post though.